US charges Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran in foiled assassination plot

DoJ alleges Asif Merchant planning to attack US politicians, officials, citing alleged Iranian links to revenge plan

WASHINGTON:

The United States has charged a Pakistani man, Asif Merchant, with alleged connections to Iran in a plot to assassinate US politicians or government officials, according to the Justice Department on Tuesday.

The case emerged after the foiling of a plan purportedly intended as retaliation for the US's 2020 killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' top commander, Qassem Soleimani.

Merchant, 46, was accused of recruiting individuals within the US to carry out the assassination plot. According to the criminal complaint, he spent some time in Iran before travelling to the United States, where he was subsequently charged with murder for hire in a federal court located in Brooklyn, New York. Court records indicate that Merchant was ordered detained by a federal judge on July 16.

Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, "For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani."

The FBI suspects that the plot’s targets included former President Donald Trump, who authorised the drone strike on Soleimani, along with other current and former US officials, as reported by CNN, citing a US official. However, court documents do not disclose the identities of the alleged targets. The criminal complaint noted that Merchant informed a law enforcement informant about security measures around one particular target.

Both the Justice Department and Trump's presidential campaign declined to comment further on the matter.