A Pakistani national has been convicted in the United States of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump and other senior American political figures in a scheme prosecutors say was directed by Iran.
A federal jury in New York found 47-year-old Asif Merchant guilty of murder for hire and attempting to carry out an act of terrorism across international borders after a week-long trial in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors said the plan was organised at the direction of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.
Authorities said Merchant travelled to the US in April 2024 after spending time in Iran and attempted to recruit people to carry out political assassinations.
According to the United States Department of Justice, the targets included Trump, then US president Joe Biden and former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
In a post on X, Haley said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned her in 2024 that the Iranian regime had placed a hit on her life, saying agents came to her home to alert her to the threat.
Reacting to the conviction of Pakistani national Asif Merchant in a New York court, Haley said the man who had accepted the orders had now been sentenced to life in prison.
She argued the case showed the extent of Iran’s reach, adding that anyone who claimed Tehran was not a threat to the United States was ignoring how far the regime was willing to go to target Americans even within the country.
“Anyone who claims the Iranian regime isn’t a danger to America is ignoring how far its tentacles spread and is willfully ignorant about how far it will go to threaten Americans even in our own country.”
The plot was uncovered before any attack could occur after a person Merchant approached in New York reported his activities to authorities and later became a confidential informant. Merchant subsequently met undercover law enforcement officers posing as hitmen and paid them US$5,000 as an advance for the planned killing.
Investigators said Merchant discussed multiple elements of the scheme, including stealing documents, staging protests at political events and assassinating a political figure once he had left the United States. He also conducted online searches related to the locations and security arrangements of political rallies, which prosecutors said he reported back to his Iranian handler.
Merchant was arrested in July 2024 before he could leave the country.
During the trial, Merchant admitted he had been sent to the United States by the IRGC to organise assassinations and recruit potential operatives. However, he testified that he cooperated with the plan under pressure, claiming his handler knew the whereabouts of his relatives in Tehran and that he feared for their safety.
Prosecutors argued the plot was intended as revenge for Soleimani’s killing in a US drone strike ordered by Trump during his first presidency.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr said the case demonstrated an attempt by a foreign adversary to orchestrate violence on American soil, but added that the plan had been stopped through the actions of law enforcement.
Merchant faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced.
The conviction comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and ongoing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Tehran has previously denied accusations that it sought to target Trump or other American officials.
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