Officials have charged a man in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to kill Donald Trump before the presidential election, the US Department of Justice revealed.

A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court alleges that an unnamed official of Iran The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tasked a contact in September with developing a plan to investigate and ultimately kill the president-elect.

If the man, identified as Farjad Shakeri, 51, was not able to come up with a plan by then, the complaint says, the official told him that Iran would suspend his plan until after the presidential election because the official thought Mr. Trump was going to lose.

The official allegedly told Shakeri that it would then be easier to assassinate the president-elect, according to the complaint.

Shakeri told the FBI that he was not going to come up with a plan to assassinate Mr. Trump within the seven days the official requested, according to the complaint.

He is at large and remains in Iran, officials believe.

Shakeri and two other men – Carlisle Rivera, 49, of Brooklyn, New York, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, of Staten Island – were charged with murder for hire, conspiracy to commit murder for hire and conspiracy money laundering. .

These men were allegedly recruited to kill an American journalist who openly criticized Iran. They appeared in New York Southern District Court on Thursday and are being held pending trial.

Trump claims latest victory: Details of alleged Iranian plot to kill president-elect

Shakeri was also charged with material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers and Sanctions Act. Iranian government.

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Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the charges: “There are few actors in the world that pose as serious a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran. »

The plot reflects what federal officials have described as Iran’s ongoing efforts to target U.S. government officials, including the president-elect, inside the United States.