Senior Republican Congressman: I Will Not Be Intimidated by Iran's Threats

Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned the governments of Iran, Russia, and China on Monday, December 5, that he will not be intimidated by their threats. According to McCaul, these governments fear anyone who stands against their tyranny, which is why they have been threatening him 'in various ways' for 'years' to suppress his criticisms. He emphasized that he will never be intimidated by these threats and is eager to work with Donald Trump, his national security team, and other colleagues to confront these threats, restore deterrence, and demonstrate U.S. power. The remarks from this senior Republican member of the House come in the wake of a bipartisan proposal in the House and Senate aimed at countering the criminal plots of the Iranian government and other hostile regimes against American citizens on U.S. soil. The bipartisan proposal seeks to respond to the criminal activities of the Islamic Republic within the U.S. by increasing criminal penalties for individuals acting on behalf of this government or other enemies of the United States. The 'Deterrence Act' is backed by Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan, Republican Senator Joni Ernst, Republican lawmaker Anna Wagner, Democratic lawmaker Brad Schneider, Republican lawmaker Nathaniel Moran, and Democratic lawmaker Jared Moskowitz, following years of Iran's efforts to hire criminals based in the U.S. to assassinate Donald Trump, the former president and elected official, as well as some members of his administration and Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic. The proposal increases penalties for criminals who knowingly engage in a conspiracy for 'murder for hire' intending to assassinate federal officials and their families, kidnapping or attempting to kidnap, threatening with a dangerous weapon, and stalking by a hostile government. Senator Maggie Hassan, in a statement regarding this, said that hostile governments like the Islamic Republic are collaborating with criminal organizations to kill individuals on American soil. According to her, this bipartisan proposal will intensify penalties against criminal gangs, especially if they are hired by foreign governments. Senator Hassan emphasized that the swift passage of this proposal sends a clear message that the United States will not tolerate such brutal behavior. Senator Joni Ernst stated that the proposal is essential to counter 'years of appeasement' and the subsequent freedom of action of the Islamic Republic in the U.S. He recalled the Islamic Republic's efforts to assassinate Donald Trump and added that this proposal will impose severe consequences on those responsible for the Iranian government's malicious actions on U.S. soil. Anna Wagner described the proposal as an effort to counter the Islamic Republic's assassination attempts against Donald Trump and added that the United States must defend its citizens against the brazen and destabilizing attacks of foreign countries. Brad Schneider described the Islamic Republic's plots to assassinate American citizens as 'deeply concerning' and requiring 'decisive action' from lawmakers to send a clear message to the Iranian government and other hostile states. In this context, Nathaniel Moran recalled the assassination attempts against Trump and other American citizens as highlighting 'the urgent need for strong and practical deterrence against foreign regimes seeking to harm Americans on U.S. soil.' Finally, Jared Moskowitz, a member of the bipartisan House task force investigating the assassination attempts against Trump, stated that the goal of the proposal is to send a message to the agents of foreign governments, especially the Iranian government, that they will face severe consequences if they harm Americans. The conspiracy of the Islamic Republic to assassinate Trump was revealed when the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday, November 18, published details of an indictment related to thwarting an Islamic Republic plot to assassinate Donald Trump, the elected president of the United States, before the presidential election. According to the criminal indictment filed in federal court in Manhattan, New York, an anonymous member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ordered one of Iran's operatives in September (from September 11 to October 9) to prepare a plan to monitor and ultimately assassinate Trump. The release of the U.S. Department of Justice statement came just three days after Trump's significant victory in the presidential election, prompting widespread reactions among American officials and much speculation among political experts. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that few threats to U.S. national security are as serious as the threat posed by the Islamic Republic. He noted that the Department of Justice has charged an Iranian operative who was tasked by the Iranian government to lead a network of criminals to carry out assassination plots against targets such as Donald Trump. Garland added that two other individuals, who were hired as part of this network to silence and kill a critical American journalist in the U.S., have also been arrested and charged. The U.S. Attorney General emphasized that America will not tolerate the Iranian government's efforts to endanger U.S. national security and American citizens. FBI Director Christopher Wray, in a statement regarding this, said that the charges brought on Friday demonstrate the 'ongoing and brazen' efforts of the Iranian government to attack American citizens, including Donald Trump, other U.S. leaders, and opponents of the Islamic Republic. He stated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as a foreign terrorist organization, has been conspiring with criminals and assassins to attack Americans on U.S. soil, and such actions will not be tolerated. Wray added that thanks to the FBI's intensive efforts, deadly plots have been disrupted. He affirmed that the FBI is committed to using all its resources to protect American citizens from the Islamic Republic and any other enemies that intend to attack Americans. Farhad Shakri and two other defendants were identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as the main Iranian operatives involved in the assassination plot against Donald Trump. They are Farhad Shakri, 51, residing in Iran, and his associates Carlyle Rivera, 49, from Brooklyn, New York, and Jonathan Ludolt, 36, from Staten Island, New York. According to the Department of Justice statement, Shakri is an operative of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps living in Tehran, Iran. Shakri, who immigrated to the U.S. as a child, was deported from the U.S. around 2008 after serving 14 years in prison for theft. The Associated Press identified Shakri as of Afghan descent. The Department of Justice stated that in recent months, Shakri has utilized a network of criminal associates he became acquainted with in U.S. prisons to provide operational forces to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to monitor and assassinate the Guard's targets. The Department of Justice has charged these three individuals not only with attempting and planning to assassinate the elected president of the United States but also with participating in a conspiracy to murder an Iranian-American citizen in New York. Rivera was arrested in Brooklyn and Ludolt in Staten Island, but Shakri is at large and believed to be residing in Iran. Shakri, Rivera, and Ludolt have been charged with 'participating in a conspiracy to commit murder for hire' and 'conspiracy to commit money laundering,' which could lead to a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of them. Although Merrick Garland did not mention the name of the journalist targeted by the failed assassination plot, Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and political activist, announced that the FBI informed her that two men had been arrested for attempting to kill her at Fairfield University. The two arrested suspects, Carlyle Rivera, 49, and Jonathan Ludolt, 36, were supposed to attempt to assassinate Alinejad during her speech at the university. This Iranian-American journalist added that these two individuals had been hired by Farhad Shakri. This marks the third failed assassination plot by the Iranian government against Masih Alinejad, resulting in 15 individuals being charged, six of whom are currently in custody. The Iranian government has described the U.S. allegations regarding the plot to assassinate Donald Trump as 'completely baseless.' According to Agence France-Presse, Ismail Baqaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated in a statement following the U.S. prosecutors' announcement of the alleged plot that 'the Foreign Ministry rejects the claims regarding Iran's involvement in an assassination targeting former or current U.S. officials.' The denial of the Iranian government's role in this plot comes as Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened in recent years that they would take 'revenge' for the killing of Qassem Soleimani by any means necessary. Ali Shamkhani, the former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, had stated during those days that Iran's 'response' to Soleimani's killing would 'certainly be military, but it would not be limited to military actions.' The Iranian government's attempts to assassinate its political opponents abroad, as well as former officials of the Trump administration, including Trump himself, are well-documented. Reuters reported in mid-October that the Islamic Republic has been involved in at least 33 assassination or kidnapping attempts in Europe and the U.S. since 2020. The news of the failed assassination plot against Donald Trump has elicited reactions from some American lawmakers. Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, responded to the U.S. Department of Justice report about the Iranian plot to assassinate the elected president of the United States by stating, 'The Iranian regime wants to kill Donald because it sees him as a threat to its survival.' Dan Sullivan, a Republican senator from Alaska, reiterated the news regarding the Iranian attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, writing that he has pressured the Biden administration over the past four years to reinstate Trump's successful maximum pressure policy against the Islamic Republic. Senator Sullivan expressed eagerness to collaborate again with the Trump administration on these 'critical issues.' James Lankford, a Republican senator from Colorado, stated that the Iranian government hates the freedoms present in the United States, and this assassination plot is further evidence of that hatred. He praised the swift actions of the FBI and other executive agencies to thwart this assassination plot, stating, 'We must remain vigilant against terrorism here in the United States and continue to take necessary actions to protect the security of Americans.' Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, in response to the news of the Iranian attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, wrote that Trump would reinstate the 'maximum pressure' sanctions and once again bankrupt the Iranian government. Senator Ernst emphasized that the regime based on terror and assassination must come to an end. Finally, John Kennedy, a Republican senator from Louisiana, wrote on social media that the Iranian government hates Americans. Experts Hussein Aghaei, an international relations and strategic affairs researcher, and Shahin Modarres, a security studies analyst and international relations expert, discussed the Iranian government's assassination plots against Donald Trump in an interview with VOA on Friday. Hussein Aghaei, in response to a question from the VOA host about why the Iranian government has become bolder in its terrorist actions, specifically the decision to assassinate the elected president of the United States, stated, 'The Islamic Republic has launched an organized hybrid war against its enemies, and as it finds itself cornered and its survival threatened, it has increased the scale and intensity of its extraterritorial assassination operations.' He cited a report from the National Security Studies Institute affiliated with Tel Aviv University, stating, 'Since 2020, the Islamic Republic has expanded its assassination operations, planning at least seven operations against Israeli and Jewish interests around the world in 2021, about nine in 2022, and approximately nine terrorist plots in 2023, with at least six extraterritorial assassination operations planned for 2024 in Asia, Africa, and Europe, expanding its assassination targets to Europe and the U.S.' This international relations researcher and strategic affairs expert attributed the attempt on Donald Trump's life to the Iranian government's fear of his potential rise to power and emphasized that despite the increase in the Islamic Republic's efforts to assassinate opponents and 'enemies,' these assassinations have mostly failed. In this context, Shahin Modarres, a security studies analyst and international relations expert, also did not rule out the possibility of the Iranian government's involvement in the failed assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania in July, stating, 'No possibility can be ignored, as the Islamic Republic sometimes uses individuals who are at the initial stage of ideological radicalization, and Iranian government agents exploit these individuals' beliefs to encourage them to carry out assassinations such as the attempt on Donald Trump's life.' He further discussed the reasons for the lack of action by the United States and Western countries against the perpetrators of the Iranian government's criminal activities.