The US Justice Department (DOJ) has charged an Iran-based man over a plot to kill president-elect Donald Trump, allegedly sanctioned by the Islamic Republic's military and intelligence agency.
In a statement released Friday, local time, the DOJ alleged Iranian "asset" Farhad Shakeri, 51, had been "tasked on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill" Trump.
The DOJ alleged Iran's Revolutionry Guard Corps (IRGC) — the country's hardline military and intelligence agency — had ordered the hit.
While Trump was the only alleged target named by the DOJ, the statement made it clear the charges reflected multiple separate blueprints to kill American and Israeli citizens in the US, and elsewhere.
Shakeri remains at large, and likely living in Tehran, according to the DOJ.
A sworn statement tendered to a New York Court and signed by special agent Mathew Chrusz claimed Shakeri had lifted the lid on multiple plans during taped phone interviews with the FBI, given voluntarily, between September and November.
The statement said he had immigrated to the US as a child but had been deported "in or about 2008" after serving 14 years behind bars for a robbery.
While Shakeri is believed to live in Iran, he is an Afghan national.
In one plot, the DOJ alleged Shakeri had been tasked with surveilling two Jewish-American citizens in New York, and had been offered $US500,000 ($760,000) to murder either of them.
In another, it was alleged he had been ordered to kill Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka.
"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 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — a designated foreign terrorist organisation — has been conspiring with criminals and hitmen to target and gun down Americans on US soil and that simply won't be tolerated.
"Thanks to the hard work of the FBI, their deadly schemes were disrupted.
"We're committed to using the full resources of the FBI to protect our citizens from Iran or any other adversary who targets Americans."
Arrested man was told to 'finish the work'
Trump was the subject of multiple failed assassination attempts during his run for president, which culminated in a sweeping election victory on Tuesday.
The alleged plots detailed in the DOJ release are not related to the previous attempts on Trump's life.
While Shakeri was alleged to have multiple assassination plots on the go, the DOJ has charged two other men, Carlisle Rivera, 49, and Jonathon Loadholt, 36, over a plan to murder an American citizen with Iranian heritage in New York.
They were on Thursday arrested in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island respectively and remain in custody. It's alleged they met Shakeri in prison.
Special Agent Chrusz's sworn statement filed in the court alleges Shakeri "has a network of criminal associated that he met during his time in prison to supply the IRGC with operatives to conduct surveillance and assassinations".
While prosecutors did not specify who their alleged target was, the description matches outspoken journalist Masih Alinejad, who has been critical of the Islamic Republic's conservative religious regime.
The sworn statement claimed Shakeri had promised to pay $US100,000 to Rivera and Loadholt if they carried out the murder.
According to the sworn statement, Shakeri and Rivera exchanged voice notes (recordings) discussing efforts to locate the target in April.
"This bitch is hard to catch, bro," it's alleged Rivera said in one of them.
The court documents claimed that, in another voice note, Shakeri told Rivera that "you just gotta have patience".
The documents alleged that, in text messages, Shakeri had promised Rivera $US100,000 to "finish the work".
US Attorney-General Merrick Garland said Iran was endangering America's national security.
"There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran," he said in a statement.
