A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been charged with plotting to assassinate US politicians and officials.
FBI Director Christopher Wray described the scheme as a “dangerous murder-for-hire plot… straight out of the Iranian playbook.”
Asif Merchant, 46, allegedly attempted to hire a hitman in New York to kill prominent American figures. Sources cited by CBS, the BBC’s news partner, indicated that Donald Trump was among the targets.
Security for the Republican presidential nominee was heightened in June after authorities discovered an Iranian plot against him.
“A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any US citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI,” Wray stated on Tuesday.
Merchant, who was arrested in July and is currently held in New York, arrived in the US from Pakistan in April after spending time in Iran.
Upon arrival, he allegedly contacted an individual he believed could assist with the assassination plot. This individual later reported Merchant to the police.
The indictment reveals that Merchant made a “finger gun” gesture when discussing his intentions. He allegedly stated that the job would require ongoing services, not just a “one-time opportunity.”
Merchant planned to leave the US before the killings and maintain contact using code words.
Merchant requested the contact to set up a meeting with potential assassins, leading to his connection with undercover FBI agents posing as hitmen in June.
He allegedly instructed the agents to steal documents from a target’s home, organize protests at political rallies, and kill a “political person.”
The indictment notes that Merchant intended to reveal the targets in late August or early September.
Although the indictment does not name Trump, sources mentioned by CBS confirmed that the former president was among the intended targets.
This plot is unrelated to the assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Trump and officials such as his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have faced threats from Tehran since the 2020 drone strike that killed Qassim Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, in Iraq.
Source-BBC
