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Iran denies involvement in Trump assassination plot outlined in DOJ report: 'Malicious conspiracy'

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Iran denies involvement in Trump assassination plot outlined in DOJ report: 'Malicious conspiracy'

Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a report released by the Department of Justice on Friday stating that it thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump.

A criminal complaint filed in a New York City federal court stated that an unnamed official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told Farhad Shakeri, 51, of Iran, to “focus on surveilling, and, ultimately, assassinating, former President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”

“Shakeri has informed law enforcement that he was tasked on Oct. 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump,” it added.

On Saturday, spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei “categorically dismissed allegations that Iran was involved in attempts to assassinate former and current US officials,” according to the foreign ministry. 

IRANIAN ASSET CHARGED IN PLOT TO ASSASSINATE TRUMP, DOJ SAYS

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Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, described a report from the DOJ stating that it thwarted an Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump as “completely baseless and rejected.” (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Baghaei, who described the report as “completely baseless and rejected,” said Iran has been accused of similar scenarios in the past that have been “firmly denied and proven false.”

He said that repeating these types of claims “is a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the US and Iran.”

Baghaei concluded by saying Iran “remains committed” to using “all legitimate and legal means” at domestic and international levels to “restore the rights of the Iranian nation.”

An official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is accused of tasking an Iranian man with assassinating President-elect Donald Trump. Protesters across the world have previously asked that the IRGC be placed on the EU’s terrorist list after blaming the group for repression within Iran, and terrorism and warmongering abroad. (Siavosh Hosseini/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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INTELLIGENCE REPORT SAYS IRAN WILL KEEP TRYING TO KILL TRUMP REGARDLESS OF ELECTION OUTCOME

Shakeri, who remains at large and is believed to be living in Iran, “immigrated to the United States as a child and was deported in or about 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for a robbery conviction,” according to the DOJ.

Shakeri is also accused of tasking two New York men, 49-year-old Carlisle Rivera and 36-year-old Jonathon Loadholt, with surveilling and killing an American of Iranian origin — who “is an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime” — for $100,000. 

The person, who identified herself as journalist Masih Alinejad, lives in America and has also been targeted by the Iranian government, the DOJ report said.

WATCH: MASIH ALINEJAD: I DON’T DESERVE TO BE FOLLOWED BY KILLERS

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“We will not stand for the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

Shakeri, Rivera and Loadholt face charges of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and money laundering conspiracy, which carry maximum penalties of 10 to 20 years in prison. 

Prosecutors said Shakeri has also been charged with conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and sanctions against the Government of Iran, which each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Fox News’ Greg Norman and David Spunt contributed to this report.

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Trump evacuated from White House correspondents’ dinner after shots fired

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Trump evacuated from White House correspondents’ dinner after shots fired

BREAKING,

The US president was escorted out from the event at a Washington DC hotel by his secret service agents.

United States President Donald Trump has been evacuated from the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC, after shots were fired outside the event.

The evacuation on Saturday evening came after gun shots were heard outside the hotel ballroom where Trump and the first lady had been sitting  ahead of the annual media event.

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Trump hailed the United States Secret Service and local enforcement after the incident in a post on Truth Social.

“They acted quickly and bravely,” Trump said.

“The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON” but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”

Footage from the scene showed Trump and attendees taking cover behind their table after shots rang out, as people yelled “Get down!” and “Stay down!”

Trump was then rushed away from the scene by Secret Service agents, after which heavily armed agents surrounded the table.

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Al Jazeera producer Chris Sheridan said he heard what he believed to be five gun shots outside the ballroom.

“We could smell the powder. We immediately dove to the ground. It was directly behind me,” Sheridan said.

Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, told the media that the programme would resume and that more details will be provided soon.

More to come…

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Trump hosts crypto contest winners at Mar-a-Lago as his coin languishes

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Trump hosts crypto contest winners at Mar-a-Lago as his coin languishes
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to host winners of his ​second annual meme coin contest at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, offering top buyers of his $TRUMP cryptocurrency an audience with ‌him even as the token’s value has plunged 96% from its peak last year.
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Latin American leftists met in Spain, signaling push against US influence on continent

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Latin American leftists met in Spain, signaling push against US influence on continent

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MEXICO CITY: The recent high-profile gathering of leftist leaders in Barcelona, convened by Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, is drawing increasing attention for what analysts describe as a broader geopolitical positioning that could challenge U.S. influence across Latin America and beyond.

The summit brought together Brazil president Lula da Silva, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, and Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum. Framed as a platform for addressing inequality, climate change and the rise of right-wing political movements, yet the rhetoric coming from it has raised questions in Washington and across the region about whether a more coordinated political counterweight to the United States is taking shape.

Without naming the Trump administration, Sánchez warned of the “normalization of the use of force” and “attempts to undermine international law”, as criticism of U.S. foreign policy. He also pushed for reforms to global institutions, arguing that the current system no longer reflects today’s geopolitical realities, a position that implicitly challenges long-standing U.S. leadership in those bodies.

WALZ RIPS TRUMP AND VANCE IN EUROPE, SAYS ‘FEEBLE-MINDED, TRIGGER-HAPPY PRESIDENT’ HAS NO EXIT PLAN FOR IRAN

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez take part in the 4th Meeting in Defense of Democracy, held at Fira Barcelona Gran Via in LâHospitalet de Llobregat, where he welcomed the attending delegations and underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation in defense of democratic values in Barcelona, Spain on April 18, 2026. The event included the greeting of heads of delegation and the traditional family photo, ahead of the start of the leadersâ meeting. Among those attending were South African President Cyril Ramaphosa; Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum; Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; and Colombian President Gustavo Petro.  (Lorena Sopena Lopez/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The Barcelona summit reflects a deliberate effort by Pedro Sánchez to position himself as a leading figure within an emerging progressive bloc that is increasingly critical of U.S. foreign policy under President Trump,” Juan Angel Soto, founder and CEO of Fortius Consulting told Fox News Digital.

“This positioning is particularly complex given Spain’s structural anchoring in both the European Union and NATO, which traditionally align it closely with Washington. However, Sánchez has simultaneously deepened ties with the Global South, evident in his growing proximity to China, as well as to leaders such as Lula, Sheinbaum, and Petro, suggesting a dual-track foreign policy that seeks greater autonomy from U.S. influence,” Soto said.

The Colombian leader tied global tensions directly to economic and energy systems, arguing that fossil fuel dependence has fueled conflict and inequality, an argument that aligns with broader criticism of Western-led economic models.

Roberto Salinas León, Director of International Affairs at Universidad de la Libertad in Mexico City, told Fox News Digital: “The ill-named summit “In Defense of Democracy” held in Barcelona brought together notable “progressives” with an aim to bring together a global contingent opposed to, well, Trump 2.0. How convenient.”

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TRUMP CRITICIZES SPAIN AMID IRAN, NATO RIFT AS PM SANCHEZ FACES QUESTIONS OVER POLITICAL MOTIVES

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez shake hands before their meeting in Beijing, China September 9, 2024 (China Daily via Reuters)

“Petro stated that ‘Latin American progressivism is a ray of hope for a humanity in crisis.’ Yet these would-be spokespersons for democracy have supported such inhumane brutal dictatorships like Cuba, Nicaragua, Maduro’s Venezuela, Iran, and others. This gathering is more aptly characterized as a political mascara of electoral autocracies, each leader undermining the institutional checks and balances of open liberal democracies,” he said.

Brazil’s Lula criticized what he described as interventionist policies by major powers and called for a rebalancing of global governance, including changes to the U.N. Security Council. At one point, he characterized recent U.S. leadership as contributing to global instability, reinforcing a central theme of the summit: that the current international order needs to be redefined.

President Donald Trump, center, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, second from left, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz and Chile’s President-elect Jose Antonio Kast pose for a family photo during the Shield of the Americas” Summit in Doral, Fla., on Saturday, March 7, 2026.  (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

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“The new Cold War is being waged between China and the United States; it is this very rivalry that is at stake in every country participating in the summit. Lula’s concern regarding the resurgence of the right has become patently obvious, particularly when observing Argentina and Chile, where the victories of Milei and Kast have ushered in ‘winds of change.’ We are, quite literally, living through times reminiscent of the fall of the Berlin Wall, specifically, the collapse of ‘21st-century socialism’ across Hispanic America, and this is precisely what has them so worried,” Brazilian political analyst Sandra Bronzina told Fox News Digital

“When the global progressive left rails against the United States, talking about sovereignty and peace, or speaking out against war, they are not doing so out of mere altruism or good intentions. Rather, they are driven by a shadowy self-interest: ensuring that China continues to colonize our nations, a process that is, evidently, already well underway.”

‘AMERICAS COUNTER CARTEL COALITION’: INSIDE THE US STRATEGY TO COMBAT NARCO TERROR, CONFRONT CHINA, OTHER FOES

Mexico’s Sheinbaum underscored the principle of national sovereignty, reiterating Latin America’s longstanding emphasis on non-intervention. She joined other leaders in opposing sanctions on countries such as Cuba, signaling a willingness to coordinate positions that diverge sharply from U.S. policy in the region.

Taken together, analysts say the messaging out of Barcelona suggests the early stages of a loosely aligned bloc, one that is increasingly willing to challenge U.S. positions on global governance, regional policy and economic strategy.

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Chile elected right wing leader Jose Kast as president.  (Juan Gonzalez/Reuters)

Yet even as leaders in Barcelona warn of a rising right-wing threat, political realities across the Americas tell a different story, one that may resonate more directly with U.S. audiences.

In Argentina, sweeping economic reforms focused on deregulation and fiscal discipline have captured global attention as an alternative to state-led models. In El Salvador, aggressive security policies have dramatically reduced violence. And in Ecuador, a renewed focus on law-and-order and institutional control is emerging as a response to escalating cartel violence.

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Analysts say these examples highlight a counter to the Barcelona narrative in that a significant portion of the region is moving toward policies centered on security, market reforms and stronger state authority — priorities that often align more closely with U.S. strategic interests.

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Experts say the contrast is striking. On one side, a group of leaders in Barcelona is calling for a rethinking of global systems long associated with U.S. leadership. On the other, governments across the hemisphere are experimenting with approaches that emphasize economic liberalization and strong security measures.

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