An Afghan citizen is at the center of a shocking plot to assassinate US President-elect Donald Trump.

Farhad Shakeri has been accused of masterminding a murder-for-hire plot on behalf of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Two other people, Jonathan Loadholt and Carlisle Rivera, were arrested in New York and charged on Friday.

The two American citizens are accused of assisting the Iranian government in the surveillance of another Iranian-American citizen.

This is all we know about him.

Who is Farhad Shakeri?

Shakeri, 51, is an Afghan national residing in Tehran.

Shakeri, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, became involved in criminal activity early in his life.

He was convicted of robbery in 1994 and spent 14 years in New York state prisons.

In 2005, Shakeri was transferred to a Beacon facility, where he allegedly met Carlisle Rivera.

According to New York Department of Corrections documents, his parole expired in 2015.

He remained in the United States until his deportation in 2008.

However, as stated in the indictment, Shakeri was arrested in Sri Lanka in 2019 for the seizure of 92 kilograms of heroin.

While imprisoned, Shakeri’s ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard grew deeper.

Currently in Afghanistan it is believed that he continues to be involved with the Iranian government.

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How is he involved in the assassination attempt?

According to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court in September 2024, Iranian leaders assigned Shakeri to spy on and eventually assassinate Donald Trump.

A series of secret meetings were held to discuss the plot.

The operative claimed that executing the plan would be costly, according to court documents.

“We have already spent a lot of money,” an IRGC officer reportedly said, adding: “Money is not a problem.”

When Shakeri missed the deadline, the IRGC officer said it would be “easier” to assassinate Trump if he lost, so they should postpone the operation until after the US presidential election, according to Mint.

Shakeri allegedly met his co-conspirators, Carlisle Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, and Jonathan Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island, while he was in prison.

The trio’s plot to kill Trump and human rights advocate Masih Alinejad, who lives in Brooklyn, was part of a broader Iranian attempt to stifle criticism and harm American interests.

Prosecutors claim that IRGC officers also asked Shakeri to help organize a mass shooting in Sri Lanka that would target Israeli tourists, prompting U.S. and Sri Lankan authorities to alert tourists to the possibility. of an attack.

Shakeri added that he was assigned to monitor and kill two people who were only identified as Jewish businessmen residing in New York City.

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Why was Trump attacked?

The assassination plot against Donald Trump arises from the US president-elect’s hostile policy towards Iran while in government.

The Iranian economy suffered greatly as a result of Trump’s heavy economic sanctions and his abandonment of the historic Iran nuclear deal.

Tensions between the United States and Iran worsened further in 2020 when Trump approved the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

The 78-year-old has been targeted since Soleimani’s assassination because, after coming to power, he vowed to blow Iran “into pieces.”

The charges brought against Shakeri, Loadholt and Rivera are part of a broader campaign by US authorities to combat Iranian-sponsored activities that target US citizens.

The complaint details an attempt to kill Masih Alinejad in addition to Trump’s conspiracy. Alinejad, who lives in Brooklyn, has been a strong advocate for women’s rights and has often denounced the oppressive practices of the Iranian dictatorship.

Prosecutors alleged in February that Shakeri paid Rivera and Loadholt about $1,000 to surveil the activist during a meeting at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

According to court records, the two allegedly made many trips to the activist’s Brooklyn home in March as surveillance operations continued. Their various trips have been revealed by text messages, security camera footage and cell site location data.

Shakeri claimed that the IRGC assigned him to hire people to kill the journalist and promised to pay Rivera and Loadholt $100,000 to “finish the job” in April. Furthermore, the documents indicate that by July, the Iranians were growing impatient and ordering their American assets to “take care of it now.”

With contributions from agencies