JUSTICE DELIVERED: US-Israeli Strike Eliminates Iranian Mastermind Behind Trump Assassination Plot
The Iranian terror chief who orchestrated a calculated attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump during the height of the 2024 election campaign is dead—hunted down and eliminated by combined US and Israeli forces in a precision strike that proves America’s enemies cannot hide from justice.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivered the news with unmistakable satisfaction Wednesday morning at the Pentagon, confirming what America’s adversaries need to understand: threats against this president will be met with overwhelming, decisive force.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed,” Hegseth announced during his operational briefing on Operation Epic Fury. “Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.”
The Terror Architect Identified
Israeli media identified the eliminated target as Rahman Mokadam, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) special operations division—a man whose death certificates Tehran’s decades-long campaign of international terrorism and political assassination.
This wasn’t some rogue operative. This was a senior Iranian military official directing murder plots against an American president from the highest levels of the Islamic Republic’s terror apparatus.
The implications are staggering and should terrify every remaining member of Iran’s collapsing regime.
A Plot Funded Without Limits
Federal prosecutors revealed the chilling details last fall: the IRGC tasked Afghan national Farhad Shakeri in September 2024 to “focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating” Trump.
When Shakeri expressed concern about costs, his IRGC handler’s response exposed Iran’s desperation and determination.
“We already spent a lot of money,” the Iranian operative told him. “[S]o the money’s not an issue.”
Translation: Iran was willing to spend whatever it took to murder an American president. They placed no price tag on assassinating the leader of the free world.
That’s not diplomacy. That’s not geopolitical maneuvering. That’s an act of war.
Seven Days to Kill a President
The timeline prosecutors uncovered reads like a Hollywood thriller—except this was real, and the target was the man who would become America’s 47th president.
In a phone conversation with FBI agents, Shakeri revealed that on October 7, 2024—exactly one month before the election—his Iranian handler demanded a finalized assassination plan “within seven days.”
The urgency was telling. Tehran wanted Trump dead before Americans could vote.
If Shakeri missed his deadline, the Iranians told him to wait until after the election. Why? Because Iranian officials believed Trump would lose and “afterward, it would be easier to assassinate [him].”
They miscalculated catastrophically on both counts.
Soleimani’s Shadow
US officials confirm that Iran’s murderous obsession with Trump stems from one decision: the 2020 drone strike that eliminated Qasem Soleimani, the bloodstained commander of Iran’s Quds Force and architect of countless American deaths across the Middle East.
Trump’s willingness to take out America’s enemies—to actually defend American lives rather than appeasing terror sponsors—has driven Tehran into a vengeful fury that clouds their judgment.
In 2022, then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website posted a chilling animated video showing a drone or bomber approaching Trump on a golf course.
“Revenge is Definite,” the screen proclaimed.
Khamenei himself was eliminated in strikes on February 28, alongside dozens of other senior Iranian officials. The revenge Tehran promised turned into their own destruction.
“They tried twice,” Trump later told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl with characteristic directness. “Well, I got him first.”
The Brooklyn Connection
The assassination plot’s domestic component reveals how Iran weaponizes America’s criminal underclass against our own nation.
Federal prosecutors charged Brooklyn native Carlisle Rivera and Staten Islander Jonathan Loadholt with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and money laundering conspiracy.
Shakeri—who emigrated to the US as a child before being deported in 2008 after serving 14 years for robbery—recruited both men while they were behind bars together.
This is the reality of Iran’s operations: they exploit our prison system to recruit hitmen, then deploy them against American citizens and leaders.
First Target: The Journalist
Before pivoting to Trump, Shakeri tasked Rivera and Loadholt with killing Iranian-American activist and journalist Masih Alinejad, a courageous critic of Tehran’s brutal regime who had survived previous assassination attempts.
For nine months, the would-be killers surveilled Alinejad’s Brooklyn home and tracked her movements, even planning to target her at a speaking engagement at Fairfield University in Connecticut.
Rivera’s frustrated message to Shakeri captured on federal wiretaps tells you everything about Alinejad’s resilience: “This b—h is hard to catch, bro.”
Iran offered Shakeri $1.5 million for Alinejad’s murder. He promised his recruits $100,000.
Rivera pleaded guilty in January and received 15 years in federal prison. Loadholt awaits sentencing in April after his own guilty plea.
Shakeri remains in Iran, beyond the immediate reach of American courts—but not beyond the reach of American justice, as recent events have proven.
Trump’s Unmistakable Warning
This past January, President Trump left no ambiguity about America’s response to Iranian aggression.
Speaking with NewsNation, he revealed that he had left explicit instructions: if any Iranian plot to kill him succeeded, “we’re going to blow the — the whole country is going to get blown up.”
That’s not bluster. That’s deterrence. That’s leadership.
And it’s working.
The Larger Context
Mokadam’s elimination isn’t an isolated incident—it’s part of Operation Epic Fury, the comprehensive military campaign that has systematically dismantled Iran’s terror infrastructure and decapitated its leadership.
Secretary Hegseth stressed Wednesday that this is “not a mission accomplished moment.” The operation continues, and Iran’s remaining leadership should take note.
The Islamic Republic has spent decades funding terrorism, destabilizing the Middle East, pursuing nuclear weapons, and threatening American lives. Previous administrations responded with sanctions, strongly-worded letters, and cash payments on pallets.
This administration responds with precision strikes and dead terrorists.
What This Means
The successful targeting of Rahman Mokadam sends multiple unmistakable messages.
First, to Iran’s collapsing regime: your leaders are not safe. Your terror commanders are not beyond our reach. Your plots against Americans will be your death warrant.
Second, to America’s allies: we keep our promises and defend our friends. Israel’s partnership in this operation demonstrates the strength of allied cooperation when both nations have leaders committed to victory rather than accommodation.
Third, to American citizens: this administration will hunt down anyone who threatens American lives, no matter how long it takes, no matter where they hide.
And finally, to President Trump’s domestic critics who spent years claiming his foreign policy would lead to disaster: this is what strength looks like. This is what deterrence achieves. This is what happens when America stops apologizing and starts winning.
The Path Forward
Iran’s regime is toast, and they know it. The question isn’t whether the Islamic Republic will fall—it’s how quickly and how many more of their terror commanders will meet their maker before the Iranian people finally reclaim their freedom.
The United States and Israel have demonstrated the capability and willingness to strike Iran’s leadership wherever they operate. Mokadam joins Khamenei, Soleimani, and countless other Iranian terror operatives in the graveyard of history’s failed tyrants.
Every remaining IRGC commander should be updating their wills.
President Trump survived two assassination attempts—including one directed by the Iranian regime—and responded by systematically destroying Iran’s capacity to threaten Americans or project power across the Middle East.
That’s not just revenge. That’s justice. That’s deterrence. That’s American strength restored after years of weakness and appeasement.
The mastermind who plotted to kill an American president is dead. Iran’s supreme leader is dead. Their terror network is in ruins. Their regime is collapsing.
And President Trump is very much alive, leading the nation he was elected to serve and protect.
As the Secretary of War made clear: Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.
