The United States has charged an Iranian man in connection with an alleged plot ordered by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate Donald Trump.

Two other Iranian men have been charged in connection with an alleged plot to kill an American journalist who had been “a prominent critic of the regime”.

In a statement, the US Department of Justice said the man informed law enforcement “that he was tasked, on October 7, 2024, with providing a plan to kill” Trump.

The department described him as an IRGC asset residing in Tehran. He was said to have immigrated to the US as a child and was deported around 2008 following a robbery conviction.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “There are few actors in the world that pose as serious a threat to the national security of the United States as Iran.

“The Justice Department has charged an Iranian regime asset who was tasked by the regime with directing a network of criminal associates to further Iran’s assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump.

“We also charged and arrested two individuals who we allege were recruited as part of that network to silence and kill, on US soil, an American journalist who was a prominent critic of the regime. We will not tolerate the Iranian regime’s attempts to endanger the American people and America’s national security.”

Additional reporting by agencies

This is breaking news and is being updated.