Iran Rejects US DOJ Allegations of Plot to Assassinate Former President Trump, Calls Accusations ‘Malicious Conspiracy’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a recent report from the US Department of Justice (DOJ), which claims it thwarted an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reacts during a meeting with students in Tehran on Nov. 2, 2024. via REUTERS

A federal court filing in New York cited an unnamed official within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who allegedly instructed Farhad Shakeri, a 51-year-old Iranian national, to develop a plan to surveil and assassinate Trump.

President-elect Donald Trump arrives at an election watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024. AP

According to the DOJ’s report, Shakeri, currently believed to be in Iran, was tasked on October 7, 2024, with formulating a plan to target the former president.

Additionally, he allegedly recruited two New York men, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, to surveil and plan the assassination of Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and outspoken critic of Iran, for a $100,000 bounty.

The Iranian government instructed one of its agents to stalk and assassinate President-elect Donald Trump this past September, according to a bombshell indictment unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors Friday. Department of Justice

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed the allegations on Saturday, calling them “completely baseless.”

He asserted that Iran had no involvement in these plots, labelling the DOJ report as part of a “malicious conspiracy” by anti-Iranian and pro-Israel interests intended to escalate US-Iran tensions. Baghaei emphasised Iran’s commitment to addressing international grievances through “legitimate and legal means.”

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei speaks during a press conference in Tehran on Oct. 28, 2024. AFP via Getty Images

Attorney General Merrick Garland responded firmly, stating that the US will not tolerate “the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

Shakeri, Rivera, and Loadholt face multiple charges, including murder-for-hire, conspiracy, and money laundering, with potential prison sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years.

Shakeri also faces additional charges related to supporting a foreign terrorist organisation and violating US sanctions on Iran, each carrying a maximum of 20 years.