Pakistani Man Convicted in US for Iran-Linked Plot to Assassinate Donald Trump
A Pakistani man accused of plotting with Iranian authorities to assassinate United States President Donald Trump has been convicted by a federal court in Brooklyn, according to multiple media reports.
The Federal District Court found Asif Raza Merchant guilty of attempted terrorism and murder for hire after prosecutors established that he sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or government official in the United States.
Merchant will be sentenced at an unconfirmed future date and could face life imprisonment, a spokesman for prosecutors told AFP.
Merchant, a former banker, allegedly paid $5,000 to two undercover FBI agents who were posing as assassins.
Prosecutors said the plot was connected to Iran’s vow to avenge the killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020.
Did Asif Raza Merchant claim Iranian operatives forced him into the Donald Trump assassination plot?
During testimony before the Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday, Merchant claimed that Iranian intelligence operatives coerced him into participating in the assassination plot to protect his relatives.
“I had no other options. My family was threatened,” Merchant informed the jury.
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Merchant testified that an Iranian handler instructed him in April 2024 to travel to the United States to “maybe to have somebody murdered.”
He said the handler did not initially specify a single target but later mentioned three names.
“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he named three people to me: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” he explained, referring to former US president Joe Biden and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.
What did Asif Raza Merchant tell the court about his alleged ties to Iran?
At the time, Trump and Biden were the frontrunners for the 2024 US presidential race. Merchant also told the court he believed he would be caught before anyone was harmed.
According to reports, Merchant said the Iranian contact who directed him was Mehrdad Yousef, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He also claimed he had previously been involved in helping the Iranian regime evade sanctions through money laundering.
US officials have said Merchant had “close ties to Iran” and described the alleged assassination plot as “straight out of the Iranian regime's playbook.”
Merchant was arrested on July 12, 2024 while preparing to leave the United States.
His trial and conviction come at a time when tensions in West Asia have intensified, with the United States and Israel carrying out attacks on Iran.
Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed during the strikes, while Washington has said its operations aim to curb nuclear and missile threats from Tehran.
What did Donald Trump say about US military operations against Iran amid the conflict?
Speaking during a round table on collegiate sports at the White House on Friday, Trump praised the ongoing US military operations in Iran.
Saturday marked day seven of the conflict in West Asia, with neither side showing signs of relenting.
(With inputs from ANI)