A major manhunt is underway after the FBI thwarted an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump, the U.S. government revealed this week. Two suspects, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt, were arrested in New York, but a third man, Farhad Shakeri, reportedly linked to Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is believed to have fled to Tehran.
According to the Justice Department, Shakeri, who previously lived in the U.S., was allegedly tasked by the IRGC on October 7 with coordinating an attack on Trump. The scheme reportedly involved plans for multiple targets, including U.S. and Israeli citizens on American soil. Federal authorities disclosed that Shakeri met Rivera and Loadholt while in prison after his deportation in 2008 and recruited them into the plot.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is determined to protect U.S. national security, condemning the alleged plot as part of Iran’s “grave threat” to American safety. Both Rivera and Loadholt remain detained pending trial, while the FBI continues its international search for Shakeri.
