Washington, DC: Asif Raza Merchant, a Pakistani national, has been convicted by a federal jury in the US for planning to murder top politicians, including the country’s president Donald Trump, and steal vital documents.
“He was convicted of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. Merchant was a trained operative of the Iranian government’s global terrorist force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Merchant admitted at trial that the IRGC sent him to the United States to arrange for political assassinations and steal documents, but law enforcement foiled the plot before any attack could be carried out,” the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement..
It has been alleged that Merchant reached the US in April, 2024, and met with purported hitmen in June. These hitmen were in fact undercover FBI officers in New York. He planned to leave the country in July 2024, but was arrested before that.
After his conviction, Merchant faces up to life in prison, it has been said.
“This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said.
“Merchant tried to hire someone to kill a politician or a US government official, but the FBI and our partners stopped that deadly plot,” FBI director Kash Patel said.
“This was not the first attempt by Iran to harm our citizens on US soil; the other efforts also failed. Let this verdict serve as a reminder that the FBI is committed to detecting such threats and preventing acts of violence, and we will hold accountable anyone who tries to interfere with our democratic system,” he added.
The prosecution claimed that Merchant began working for the IRGC in Pakistan in late 2022 or early 2023, when he received training in tradecraft, including counter-surveillance. Later in 2023, he was sent to the US to look for potential IRGC recruits who could stay behind. Merchant testified that he knew that the IRGC was a designated terrorist organization. Throughout this period, Merchant repeatedly traveled to Iran to meet with his IRGC handler, the DoJ has said.
In 2024, he was sent back to the US with a new mission, Merchant testified. He was to recruit “Mafia” members to steal documents, stage a protest, and arrange the murder of one of three specific US government officials and politicians.
“To that end, Merchant contacted an acquaintance in New York who he thought could help him with his scheme. That person, Nadeem Ali, instead reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source,” the statement said.
Merchant began planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed Ali on how he would kill a target in the various scenarios. Specifically, Merchant asked Ali to explain how the target would die in different scenarios. Merchant also told Ali 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 Ali from overseas using code words.
He met with the purported hitmen in mid-June. They were undercover FBI agents. Merchant said 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.” Merchant stated that the hitmen would receive instructions on who to kill after Merchant had departed the US.
On June 21, Merchant met with the undercover agents UCs in New York and paid them $5,000 as advance. He subsequently made flight arrangements and planned to leave the US on Friday, July 12, 2024. On that day, law enforcement agents placed him under arrest.
