BREAKING: DOJ charges Iranian national in plot to assassinate Donald Trump

The Department of Justice has brought criminal charges in connection to an Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump prior to the presidential election.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, an unnamed Iranian official directed a contact in September to formulate a plan to surveil and kill Trump, as reported by the Associated Press. If the contact, identified as Farjad Shakeri, was unable to create a viable plan within the requested timeframe, the official reportedly informed Shakeri that Iran would pause its efforts until after the election, anticipating that Trump would lose and believing it would be easier to assassinate him afterward.

The complaint also stated that Shakeri told the FBI he had no intention of proposing a plan to kill the former president within the one-week period outlined by the Iranian official.

“There are few actors in the world that pose as grave a threat to the national security of the United States as does Iran,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. “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."

"We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security," Garland added.

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