Pakistani man with ties to Iran convicted for plotting to kill US President Trump, other American leaders

New York: A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been convicted here for plotting to assassinate US President Donald Trump and other American politicians to avenge the death of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020.

Asif Raza Merchant, 48, was convicted by a federal jury in a Brooklyn court Friday of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Merchant faces up to life in prison.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Merchant came to America with a plot to kill Trump.

The US Justice Department said in a statement that Merchant was a trained operative of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and he had admitted at trial that in 2024 the IRGC sent him to the United States to arrange for political assassinations.

Targets could include Trump, former President Joseph Biden, and US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and Merchant stated he understood the “target would be Trump”, the Justice Department said.

Merchant arrived in the United States in April 2024, met with purported hitmen in June—who were undercover US law enforcement officers in New York—and was placed under arrest before leaving the country in July 2024.

“This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement,” Bondi said.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said that Merchant plotted to assassinate a United States politician or government official on American soil at the direction of the Iranian regime.

“This foiled scheme, motivated by vengeance for US actions against the Iranian regime, sought to strike at the heart of our democracy. May today's conviction illustrate the FBI's resolute commitment to protect the homeland from the Iranian regime's craven efforts to wage terror on the American people,” he said.

Merchant began working for the IRGC in late 2022 or early 2023, when he received training in intelligence tradecraft, including countersurveillance. Later in 2023, he was sent to the United States to look for potential IRGC recruits in the country. Merchant testified that he knew that the IRGC was a designated terrorist organisation and, throughout this period, he repeatedly travelled to Iran to meet with his IRGC handler.

Merchant testified that in 2024, he was sent back to the United States with a new mission of recruiting hitmen to arrange the murder of one of three specific US government officials and politicians.

He admitted that he was tasked by the IRGC to kill a US government official or politician to avenge the death of Soleimani, who was killed in January 2020 by a US airstrike ordered by Trump. To that end, Merchant contacted an acquaintance in New York who he thought could help him with his scheme. That person instead reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source.

In early June 2024, Merchant met the source in New York and explained his assassination plot, telling him that he had an ongoing opportunity for him and then made a “finger gun” motion with his hand, indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing. Merchant further stated that the intended victims would be “targeted here” in the United States.

Merchant instructed the source to arrange meetings with individuals whom he could hire to carry out these actions. At that meeting, Merchant began planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed the source on how he would kill a target in the various scenarios. Specifically, Merchant asked the source to explain how the target would die in different scenarios. Merchant told the source that there would be “security all around” the person.

Merchant stated that the assassination would occur after he left the United States, and he would communicate with the source from overseas using code words. The source asked whether Merchant had spoken to the unidentified “party” back home with whom Merchant was working. He responded that he had and that the party back home told him to “finalise” the plan and leave the United States. Merchant would later testify that the “party” was his IRGC handler, the Justice Department said.

In mid-June, Merchant met with the purported hitmen, who were in fact undercover US law enforcement officers in New York. Merchant advised the undercover officers that he was looking for three services from them: theft of documents, arranging protests at political rallies and for them to kill a “political person” in the United States.

Merchant stated that the hitmen would receive instructions on who to kill after Merchant had departed the United States. Throughout this period, Merchant performed internet searches for the locations of political rallies and sent a report back to his IRGC handler regarding security protocols at rallies.

He then began arranging means to obtain $5,000 in cash to pay the undercover officers as an advance payment for the assassination, which he eventually received with assistance from an individual overseas.

On June 21, 2024, Merchant met with the undercover officers in New York and paid them the $5,000 advance, after which one of the undercover officers stated, “now we’re bonded,” to which Merchant responded “yes.” The undercover officer then stated, “Now we know we’re going forward. We’re doing this,” to which Merchant responded “Yes, absolutely.” Merchant subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the United States in July 2024 when law enforcement agents placed him under arrest before he could leave the country.