Pakistani national charged in alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump, others

Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A Pakistani national was indicted Tuesday for allegedly attempting to commit an act of terrorism across national boundaries and a murder-for-hire plan targeting former President Donald Trump and others.

Prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York federal court charged Asif Merchant, 46, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, after federal law enforcement arrested him in July, the Department of Justice announced in a press release Wednesday.

If convicted, Merchant could be sentenced to life in prison.

"As these terrorism and murder-for-hire charges against Asif Merchant demonstrate, we will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran's lethal plotting against Americans," Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

"The Justice Department will not tolerate Iran's efforts to target our country's public officials and endanger our national security," Garland added.

The federal court filings against Merchant say he spent time in Iran before arriving in the United States in April.

Prosecutors say Merchant went to New York and contacted someone he thought would help him kill Trump, but that person reported the plot to law enforcement and became a confidential source for the FBI.

Merchant in early June met with the informant in New York to discuss the assassination plot and suggested more would be forthcoming, the DOJ said.

Merchant allegedly told the informant to arrange meetings with individuals who could help carry out targeted killings in the United States, which Merchant didn't know were undercover law enforcement officers.

Prosecutors said the criminal acts would include stealing documents or USB drives from the homes of Trump and others targeted for assassination, plan a protest and kill a politician or a government official.

Prosecutors say Merchant discussed how the first targeted individual would die under potential assassination scenarios and warned the informant the targeted person would have "security all around."

Merchant told the informant he would leave the United States and the assassination would occur afterward in late August or early September.

Prosecutors say Merchant on June 21 paid undercover law enforcement officers $5,000 in advance of the planned assassination and said the plot "absolutely" was moving forward and would happen.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said the alleged plot is typical of the Iranian regime.

"This dangerous murder-for-hire plot was allegedly orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian regime's playbook," Wray said. "A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a serious threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI."

Secret Service officials in July warned Trump's campaign of an "evolving threat" after the Biden administration obtained intelligence regarding an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the presidential candidate in retaliation for ordering the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

Trump was president and ordered a successful airstrike that targeted Soleimani and killed him in Baghdad in January 2020. Soleimani was Iran's top-ranking general when he died.