3 weeks ago
Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed a report released by the Department of Justice on Friday stating that it thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.
A criminal complaint filed in a New York City federal court stated that an unnamed official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran, to "focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump."
"Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump," it added.
On Saturday, spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei "categorically dismissed allegations that Iran was involved in attempts to assassinate former and current US officials," according to the foreign ministry.
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Baghaei, who described the report as "completely baseless and rejected," said Iran has been accused of similar scenarios in the past that have been "firmly denied and proven false."
He said that repeating these types of claims "is a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the US and Iran."
Baghaei concluded by saying Iran "remains committed" to using "all legitimate and legal means" at domestic and international levels to "restore the rights of the Iranian nation."
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Shakeri, who remains at large and is believed to be living in Iran, "immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction," according to the DOJ.
Shakeri is also accused of tasking two New York men, 49-year-old Carlisle Rivera and 36-year-old Jonathon Loadholt, with surveilling and killing an American of Iranian origin — who "is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime" — for $100,000.
The person, who identified herself as journalist Masih Alinejad, lives in America and has also been targeted by the Iranian government, the DOJ report said.
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"We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Shakeri, Rivera and Loadholt face charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy, which carry maximum penalties of 10 to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Fox News' Greg Norman and David Spunt contributed to this report.
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