On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint against a man who was allegedly tasked by Iran to plot and carry out an assassination of Donald Trump.
The complaint, which was filed in Manhattan, stated that an agent from the IRGC told an Afghan citizen named Farhad Shakeri to plan the attack in October.
According to investigators, he did not provide a plan for the attack, which was allegedly ordered by an IRGC agent.
The Justice Department noted that the man was tasked with directing a network of criminal individuals to carry out attacks on Trump and other targets.
The Justice Department stated that Iran is a threat to the US’ national security. On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the allegations against the country’s government “totally unfounded.”
A statement by ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that the country rejects the notion that it is involved in assassination plots against former and current American officials.
He referred to the plot as an attempt to make the US-Iran relationship more complicated. According to the official IRNA news agency, Iran has previously rejected similar accusations due to their erroneous nature.
The alleged assassination attempt was revealed as part of a complaint that also accused the suspects of planning another attack on a US journalist.
All three suspects were charged with money laundering and murder-for-hire. Shakeri was also accused of providing material support to a terrorist organization.
The FBI noted that the threats against Trump increased following the attempted assassination of the former president on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. However, this attack was not connected to foreign actors.
Another attempt at killing Trump was made in September, but it was not linked to foreign governments.
In August, the Department of Justice announced that a Pakistani national had been charged with planning an assassination campaign in the US.
Asif Merchant was allegedly linked to Iran and had been tasked with carrying out the attack.
In September, Trump revealed on his social media platform that he was briefed by the US intelligence regarding the threats he was facing from Iran.