US files charges in Iranian plot to kill Trump

KABUL (Pajhwok): The US Justice Ministry has charged an Iranian individual for plotting to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump, but Tehran rejected the allegation as baseless.

The US Justice Department charged an Iranian named Farhad Shakeri (51) and two of his accomplices with involvement in a plot to murder Trump during his election campaign.

The department said Carlisle Rivera and Jonathan Loadholt -- both American citizens -- were arrested in New York and are accused of helping the Iranian government. The detainees were produced before a court in New York.

Shakeri is still at large, possibly living somewhere in Iran. But ISNA, reported Esmaeil Baghaee, spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs, rejected any intervention of Iran in attempting to assassinate Trump.

Baghaee insisted such allegations had been proven incorrect. Repeating the allegations is a conspiracy of what Baghaee called Zionist and US regimes.

He promised Tehran would use all legitimate and legal tools on domestic and international levels to safeguard the rights of the Iranian nation.

aw/mud