The US has accused a Pakistani man with alleged links to Iran of trying to assassinate American politicians.
Federal prosecutors said Asif Merchant, 46, plotted to assassinate an unidentified politician or U.S. government official on U.S. soil.
The case has led the US government to increase security for former US President Donald Trump and other officials. Although Trump is not explicitly mentioned in the criminal complaint, multiple sources have told reporters that Trump was one of the intended targets of the alleged plot.
Who is Asif Merchant?
Asif Merchant, also known as “Asif Raza Merchant”, is a 46-year-old Pakistani national. He has two wives, one in Pakistan and the other in Iran, as well as children in both countries.
The US Justice Department said that according to his travel records, Asif frequently travelled to Iran, Syria and Iraq.
How Asif hatched the conspiracy
Court documents say the plot involved several elements – stealing documents or USB drives from the target’s home; planning a protest, and assassinating a politician or government official.
Asif Merchant had created code names for each element of the conspiracy – “T-shirt” for protests, “flannel shirt” for stealing documents, “fleece jacket” for assassinations and “yarn-dye” for their meetings.
Merchant had earlier approached the man who had tipped off the authorities, to lure him by telling him that one of his uncles was into “yarn dyeing” business in Pakistan and he could do business with them.
For his plans, Asif Merchant hired people he thought were assassins, but were actually undercover agents. He asked a government source, whom he believed to be a hired killer, to tell him how the “target” would die in different scenarios.
How did his plot fail?
Asif Merchant’s plot failed as he tried to recruit FBI agents for the assassination attempt.
He was arrested on July 12 while he was preparing to catch a flight out of the country.
In mid-June, Merchant met with the men he thought were the killers. They were undercover U.S. law enforcement officers (UC) in New York.
He told them he wanted them to steal documents, organise protests at political rallies, and assassinate a “political figure”.
Merchant told intelligence officials that the plot would be executed after he left the country and they would be informed about the targets in the last week of August or the first week of September.
Merchant arranged for a cash payment of US$5,000 as an advance for the murder services and successfully made the payment on June 21.
Following this transaction, he planned to leave the country on July 12, 2024, a day before the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. However, law enforcement intervened and arrested him before he could leave, the court document states.
