A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been arrested and charged over an alleged plot to assassinate US politicians and officials.
Asif Merchant, 46, is accused of attempting to hire a hitman in New York to carry out the killings.
The FBI director, Christopher Wray, described the scheme as a “dangerous murder-for-hire plot… straight out of the Iranian playbook.”
According to reports, it was mentioned that Donald Trump was among the intended targets of Merchant. Security for the former president was reportedly increased in June after authorities learned of an Iranian plot to kill him.
Mr. Merchant arrived in the US from Pakistan in April and allegedly contacted a person whom he believed could help with the assassination plot. The justice department’s indictment alleges that Mr. Merchant mentioned his intention to leave the US before targets were killed and wanted to stay in contact using code words.
The indictment also stated that Mr. Merchant asked the contact to arrange a meeting with would-be assassins, which led to him being connected to undercover FBI agents posing as hitmen.
While the indictment does not mention Trump by name, sources cited by CBS said that the former president was one of the intended targets. It’s important to note that the plot is unrelated to the assassination attempt on the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania on 13 July, which was carried out by a 20-year-old individual and not related to Mr. Merchant’s case.
Given the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran, officials including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo have faced threats from Tehran since the drone strike assassination of Qassim Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Quds force, in Iraq in 2020.
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