Iran Regime Operative Tied To Trump Assassination Plot Eliminated In Operation Epic Fury
A senior Iranian regime operative linked to a plot to assassinate President Donald Trump has reportedly been eliminated during the joint U.S.-Israel military campaign known as Operation Epic Fury.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed during a Pentagon briefing that U.S. forces ultimately targeted individuals connected to threats against the United States, including figures involved in a previously uncovered assassination scheme against Trump.
“We’ve known for a long time that Iran had intentions to kill President Trump,” Hegseth said. “While that wasn’t the focus of the effort by any stretch of the imagination, it was never raised by the president or anybody else. But if we had the opportunity to get at those who were trying to get at America, we would.”
According to officials, the Iranian operative believed to have been killed is Rahman Mokadam, identified as the head of the Special Operations Division within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mokadam had long been accused of overseeing unconventional warfare operations and alleged murder-for-hire plots targeting regime opponents abroad.
The alleged assassination scheme targeting Trump first became public in November 2024 when the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian asset described by investigators as a key figure in the plan.
According to federal prosecutors, Shakeri, an Afghan national previously deported from the United States in 2008, was directed in September 2024 to surveil and ultimately assassinate Trump while he was a presidential candidate.
Court filings state that Iranian officials told Shakeri that “money’s not an issue” and pushed for a plan to be developed within seven days. When Shakeri reportedly said the timeline was unrealistic, investigators say the operatives were instructed to delay the plot until after the election, believing Trump would be more vulnerable as a private citizen if he lost.
“Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump,” the Justice Department said in court filings.
The alleged assassination plan also extended beyond Trump. Prosecutors say Shakeri and two associates, Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt, who were arrested in New York, were also involved in a separate plot targeting Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad in Brooklyn.
Alinejad reacted to the charges on social media, writing that the same network assigned to target Trump had also been tasked with killing her on U.S. soil.
“I came to America to practice my First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” she wrote. “I don’t want to die.”
Officials say the elimination of Mokadam during Operation Epic Fury represents a major blow to Iran’s covert operations apparatus and removes a key figure linked to threats against American leaders and dissidents.