The United States Department of Justice has unsealed criminal charges against a man allegedly tasked by Iran with “surveilling and plotting to assassinate” Donald Trump before the presidential election, the indictment also reveals that the man had been tasked to plan a mass shooting to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.
The criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan on Friday said an agent with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had instructed an Afghan citizen, Farhad Shakeri, to come up with the plan in October.
In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump”.
The accused, 51-year-old Shakeri, is currently believed to be in Tehran, Iran.
On Saturday, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the US accusations as “totally unfounded”.
The ministry “rejects allegations that Iran is implicated in an assassination attempt targeting former or current American officials”, spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a statement.
He called it a “repulsive” plot by Israel and Iranian opposition outside the country “aimed at making US-Iran problems more complicated”, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The alleged assassination effort was revealed as part of a wider complaint that alleged Shakeri, together with New York City residents Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Lodholt, had taken part in a separate plot to kill a US journalist who has been a vocal critic of Iran.
The two appeared in court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday and are being detained pending a trial.
According to the Justice Department, Shakeri immigrated to the US as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction.
“In recent months, Shakeri has used a network of criminal associates he met in prison in the United States to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations of IRGC targets,” the Justice Department said in a news release.
Last month several embassies in Sri Lanka issued a travel warning to its citizens.
The US Embassy, Russian Embassy, British High Commission and Australian High Commission in Colombo have cautioned its personnel and warned its citizens from travelling to Arugam Bay in the East, stating there is "credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area."
A controversial Israeli community centre was a potential target of a ‘terrorist’ attack confirmed Sri Lankan police.
“The information was that a place called ‘Chabad House,’ run by the Jewish community, could be a target, and we have taken measures to strengthen security,” said police spokesperson DIG Nihal Talduwa.
According to the website of the Chabad House in Sri Lanka, it claims to be “a Jewish community center of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement.”
“Chabad houses were founded by Shluchim sent by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and can now be found in almost every city around the world,” it continues, adding that they “often serve as a place for Jewish travelers searching for a warm and welcoming community, as well as assist with kosher food and other religious needs.”
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