Farhad Shakeri, an Afghan national who was deported from the United States in 2008, has been accused of plotting to assassinate Donald Trump. The 51-year-old allegedly masterminded a murder-for-hire operation in coordination with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
On November 8, Shakeri and two others were charged in a criminal complaint for their alleged involvement in the plot to assassinate a US citizen of Iranian descent in New York. While the other two suspects were arrested, Shakeri remains at large and is believed to be in Iran.
According to a criminal complaint, in September 2024, Shakeri was instructed by an official from the IRGC to focus on “assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.” This directive came after Shakeri had already been involved in multiple operations on behalf of the IRGC, utilising his criminal network to support the group’s agenda.
The criminal complaint added that according to Shakeri, during his meeting with an IRGC official on or about October 7, 2024, he was instructed to provide a plan within seven days to kill Trump. If Shakeri failed to do so within that timeframe, the IRGC official said the plan would be delayed until after the US Presidential elections. It was believed that Trump would lose, and it would then be easier to carry out the assassination. Shakeri told the FBI that he did not intend to propose a plan within the set deadline.
The US Department of Justice stated, “Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump. During the interview, Shakeri claimed he did not intend to propose a plan to kill Trump within the timeframe set by the IRGC.”
Shakeri was also assigned to keep an eye on two Jewish American citizens in New York and was offered $500,000 by an IRGC official for the murder of either target. Additionally, he was instructed to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.
Background of Farhad Shakeri
Shakeri, an asset of the IRGC based in Tehran, immigrated to the US as a child. He was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years for a robbery conviction. In recent months, Shakeri has been involved in leveraging a network of criminal associates he met in US prisons to assist the IRGC. He has reportedly been supplying the IRGC with operatives for conducting surveillance and assassinations targeting individuals of interest, according to the US Department of Justice.
Though he was deported in 2008, his parole monitoring continued until 2015. In 2019, he was detained in Sri Lanka in connection with the seizure of a large quantity of heroin, highlighting an ongoing series of alleged criminal activities linked to his network.
Shakeri faces multiple charges, including conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation, which could result in up to 20 years in prison. He is also charged with providing material support to the same organisation, as well as conspiring to violate sanctions against the Iranian government under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, each of which carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.
