US Unseals Charges In Foiled Iranian Plot to Assassinate Trump Before Election

The US Justice Department unsealed criminal charges on Friday related to a foiled Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump before this week's presidential election, reported the Associated Press.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan claims that an unnamed official in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact in September to devise a plan to surveil and eventually kill Trump.

Photo Credit: PTI

According to the complaint, if the individual, identified as Farjad Shakeri, was unable to come up with a plan by the given deadline, the official told him that Iran would halt the operation until after the election, as the official believed Trump would lose and it would be easier to carry out the assassination at that time.

Shakeri informed the FBI that he did not intend to propose a plan to murder Trump within the seven-day timeframe requested, as per the complaint.

The unsealed charges, coming just days after Trump's victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, highlight what federal officials have described as ongoing efforts by Iran to target US government officials, including Trump, on American soil.