Iran charged in plot to assassinate Trump
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump gestures at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. September 13, 2024.PHOTO: REUTERS
US prosecutors announced charges on Friday in an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former president Donald Trump.
The foiled assassination plot was allegedly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to avenge the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in a US strike ordered by then-president Trump, the Justice Department said.
Farhad Shakeri, 51, who is believed to be in Iran, was "tasked" on October 7 by the IRGC with providing a plan to kill Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in Tuesday's US presidential election, the department said in a statement.
The agency said Shakeri and two other men were charged separately with plotting to kill a dissident Iranian-American journalist in New York.