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Donald Trump gestures after taking the oath of office during his first inauguration in Washington, DC, in January 2017.
Was Iran trying to assassinate Donald Trump?
The Justice Department on Friday charged three men with plotting to assassinate Donald Trump on the orders of the Iranian government.
“The charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said Friday.
The alleged murder-for-hire scheme was unveiled as investigators interviewed an apparent Afghani Iranian government asset who told them that a contact in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard instructed him to create a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump. The plot was unsealed days after Trump prevailed in this week’s presidential election and is purportedly among other ongoing Iranian efforts to take out US government officials on American soil. Another alleged plot targeted Brooklyn-based human rights activist Masih Alinejad. (See Ian Bremmer’s interview with Alinejad in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s in-custody death in Iran from 2022 here).
Two of the three men have been arrested, but one, Farhad Shakeri, remains at large and is believed to be in Iran.
Why would Iran want to kill Trump? During the first Trump presidency, the US and Iran found themselves on the brink of war after Trump ordered a strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top generals. Trump also withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal and reimposed economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Iran likely dreads another Trump presidency, not only because the president-elect may pursue another “maximum pressure” strategy, but because he is likely to empower Israel to intensify its fight against Iranian proxies.
GZERO celebrates International Women's Day
On International Women's Day, we’re proud to showcase just a few of the exceptional women we’ve interviewed on “GZERO World with Ian Bremmer,” our weekly program on US public television. The accomplishments of these remarkable women have made them role models globally. Click to watch our interviews with:
- Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist and women's rights activist, known for her campaign against the Iranian government
- Jennifer Granholm, the former Governor of Michigan and current US Secretary of Energy
- Alina Polyakova, a political scientist and foreign policy expert
- Nikole Hannah-Jones, a journalist and author who led the 1619 Project
- Jean Lee, a journalist who extensively covered North Korea and currently serves as the director of the Korea Program at the Wilson Center
- Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, a Belarusian politician and human rights activist who challenged the authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election.
- Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, a South African politician and women's rights advocate and former Executive Director of UN Women
- Nancy Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military college and a Republican congresswoman from South Carolina
- Christine Lagarde, a French lawyer and politician who is currently serving as the President of the European Central Bank
- Maria Ressa, a Filipino-American journalist and CEO of the news website Rappler, known for her coverage of press freedom and the Philippine government's war on drugs
- Kaja Kallas, Estonia's popular centre-right prime minister, who won a sweeping election victory, receiving more personal votes than any politician in the country's history
“GZERO World with Ian Bremmer” season 5 highlights
“GZERO World with Ian Bremmer,” our weekly global affairs program, is now in its fifth season on US public television. Over the past five years, the program has brought you interviews with heads of state, newsmakers, and leaders of industry. Our mission is to help you make sense of the world and the people and events shaping politics today, and there’s no better place to do that than on public television. For two decades, PBS has been named the most trusted brand in US television.
Here are some highlights from recent interviews, stories from the field, and, of course, Puppet Regime. Be sure to check out Ian’s interview with Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, which begins airing this Friday, Feb. 3, all over the US. Check your local listings for our program schedule.
In Davos, Iranian protesters demand IRGC to be declared "terrorist"
While I’ve read reports of protesters in the vicinity of the 2023 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland I haven’t witnessed any activity near the Congress Center itself. That’s what made this demonstration stand out for me and why I wanted to speak to the participants.
A small group of Iranians, some of whom told me they had family members executed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, had created a memorial in an open courtyard on the promenade. It was filled with poster-sized photos of men and women who have been killed by the regime since widespread protests began last September, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. She died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for improperly wearing her headscarf.
I spoke to two organizers who conveyed that their mission was to have world leaders declare the IRGC a terrorist organization. They had come to Davos in the hopes of getting attention from the international delegations present here this week.
While they haven’t yet gotten any direct response from the WEF, Iran has been in focus on both the main stage and the sidelines this week. The Forum presented a panel on the future of women in Iran featuring actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi alongside Masih Alinejad, who appeared as a guest on our program GZERO World last fall after the protests started.
Also, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made headlines Tuesday when she told reporters here in Davos she would support listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, which would criminalize membership in the organization. She said Iran’s regime is “trampling over fundamental human rights.”
Women rising up against Iran's regime: journalist and activist Masih Alinejad
Iran is facing the biggest uprising Iran since the so-called "Green Movement" in 2009.
The rallying cry began after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died after being beaten by cops for not wearing her headscarf properly. Since then, more than 14,000 people have been arrested, at least 326 killed, and one executed.
On GZERO World, Ian Bremmer speaks to Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, a sworn enemy of the Supreme Leader; it's widely believed that Iranian spies have tried to kidnap and assassinate her in New York.
From Alinejad's perspective, for the first time in Iran's history, people are setting aside long-held sectarian divisions — including toward minority Kurd and coming together to protest the regime.
And many even cheered the national soccer team's elimination at the World Cup because some players were seen as puppets of the regime.
She has a clear message to the West: If you want to help, don't go back to the 2015 nuclear deal and let Iranians bring about regime change on their own.
This interview was featured in a GZERO World episode: "Iran v. the Islamic Republic: Fighting Iran’s gender apartheid regime" on December 12, 2022.
- Why Iran’s protests are different this time ›
- What We’re Watching: 40 days of protest in Iran, Franco-German tensions, good grain news ›
- Great Satan on the pitch, big troubles at home — Iran's World Cup dilemma ›
- GZERO celebrates International Women's Day - GZERO Media ›
- At the Paris Peace Forum, grassroots activists highlight urgent issues - GZERO Media ›
Iranian activists want the West to stop legitimizing Iran's regime
French President Emmanuel Macron recently got flak for shaking the hand of Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi. In part to smooth things over, Macron agreed to meet with dissidents — including journalist and activist Masih Alinejad.
Her message to him and the West in general? Recall your ambassadors from Iran and don't return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
"The only thing can make [the regime] survive [is] the US government and its allies to get back to the deal," Alinejad tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
And let Iranian's take care of the regime change.
"We, the people of Iran, are doing this and I want them to recognize this revolution and stop legitimizing one of the most barbaric regime," she says. "Is that too much to ask?"
Watch the GZERO World episode: Iran v. the Islamic Republic: Fighting Iran’s gender apartheid regime
Masih Alinejad lives in Brooklyn. Iran wants to kill her.
Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad has long been in Tehran's crosshairs, accused of being an agent of the United States.
She denies it. "I'm not an American agent. I have agency," Alinejad tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
But the regime has continued to look for ways to target her, even from her home in Brooklyn.
"In front of the eyes of free world, the Islamic Republic sent people here in New York to kill you, to assassinate you, to kidnap you. This is scary," she says. Alinejad has been living in safe houses, here in New York, for months.
"It seems that even America is not safe."
Watch the GZERO World episode: Iran v. the Islamic Republic: Fighting Iran’s gender apartheid regime
How the Iranian regime’s brutality is backfiring
Iran's crackdown on the ongoing women-led protests against the regime has been fierce — but uneven. Protestors in the Kurdish region, for instance, have faced brutal, and frequently fatal backlash from the government.
Yet the people have come out everywhere.
Why? "The more that they kill, the more people get angry to take back to the streets," Iranian activist and journalist Masih Alinejad tells Ian Bremmer on GZERO World.
And the unity, she adds, is scaring the regime. For the first time in Iran's history, Alinejad says, people are setting aside long-held sectarian divisions — including toward minority Kurd and coming together to protest this regime.