A Pakistani man was convicted Friday of a plan to work with the Iranian government to murder President Donald Trump and other high-ranking officials, in a trial that coincided with the United States’ escalating war with Iran.
Asif Merchant was arrested in July 2024 and found guilty of attempted terrorism and murder for hire. His case in federal district court in Brooklyn focused on what prosecutors said was an attempt to steal documents, launder money and hire hit men to attack American politicians. In court this week, Merchant said he had been recruited by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, though he said he was motivated to act because he feared for his life and safety.
An attorney for Merchant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Merchant’s plot was foiled before he made any attempts on officials’ lives. But his case has played out amid a broadening conflict in the Middle East. As the war enters its second week, Trump early Saturday said the number of targets in the war would expand. Israel also ramped up its strikes across Iran, with jets targeting Tehran and Isfahan, including Revolutionary Guard Corps targets and missile storage units, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Iran also said it launched “large-scale” strikes on American posts in the region. Neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting attacks.
Merchant said he didn’t have explicit instructions on whom to kill. But at times, his handler mentioned Trump, former president Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina who was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in Trump’s first term, according to prosecutors.
Iran has sought to assassinate Trump since the airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January 2020, during Trump’s first term. Iranian officials have also threatened some of Trump’s former advisers, including Mike Pompeo and John Bolton.
In the last week, alongside messages of regime change and the destruction of Iran’s missile capabilities, Trump has also described personal reasons for wanting to strike Iran. He told ABC News last week that the country’s efforts to assassinate him partly shaped the U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I got him before he got me,” Trump said. “I got him first.”
No evidence has connected Iran with the two attempts on Trump’s life in 2024. But those incidents and broader security threats weighed heavily on the campaign at the time.
U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz also pointed to Iran’s moves to target Trump as rationale for striking the country.
“It is responsible for a series of unprovoked armed attacks against the United States and Israel, violations of the U.N. charter, and threats to international peace and security across the Middle East,” Waltz said at an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. “It has even attempted to assassinate the U.S. president, President Trump.”
In a statement after the conviction, Joseph Nocella Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Iran sent Merchant “here to sow mayhem and murder.” FBI Director Kash Patel said despite Merchant’s plans, law enforcement “stopped that deadly plot.”
Merchant was at a Houston airport in April 2024 when he was initially searched and questioned by immigration enforcement, including about recent travels in Iran. He was released but ultimately had his plot fall apart after meeting with an acquaintance who, unbeknownst to Merchant, was an FBI informant, the New York Times reported. Merchant had explained his plans and did not know he was being recorded.
Isaac Arnsdorf contributed to this report.
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