The US has charged a foreign citizen in connection with a plot allegedly ordered by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump, the Justice Department said on Friday.
According to the department, Farhad Shakeri, 51, informed law enforcement “that he was tasked on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill” Mr Trump.
In a statement, the department described Mr Shakeri as an IRGC asset believed to be residing in Tehran. He moved the US as a child but was deported in 2008 following his release from prison after a robbery conviction.
He allegedly told investigators that an IRGC contact had instructed him to put together a plan within seven days to watch and kill Mr Trump, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.
Mr Shakeri told law enforcement officials he had no plans to formulate a plan to kill Mr Trump within the IRGC's timeline, according to the department statement.
Two other men who the authorities say were recruited to participate in other assassinations, including a prominent Iranian-American journalist, were also arrested on Friday.
“The charges announced today expose Iran's continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including president-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticise the regime in Tehran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray.
The plot, whose charges were unsealed days after Mr Trump's defeat of Democrat Kamala Harris, reflects what federal officials have described as continuing efforts by Iran to target US government officials on US soil. Last summer, the Justice Department charged a Pakistani man with ties to Iran in a murder-for-hire plot.
Mr Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in July, and in the weeks leading up to the incident, US intelligence had warned of an Iran-backed plot to kill the president-elect. There is no evidence the gunman had been tasked by Iran to carry out that shooting.
Iran's mission to the UN told The National at the time that the accusations were “unsubstantiated and malicious”.
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Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
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Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
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They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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