A Pakistani businessman, Asif Merchant, is on trial in New York for allegedly attempting to hire hitmen, including undercover FBI agents, to assassinate U.S. politicians on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
In a New York federal courtroom on Wednesday, Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national, testified that he tried to hire hitmen to kill prominent U.S. politicians, including now-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, on behalf of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Merchant claimed he acted under duress, fearing for the safety of his family in Iran, and expected to be apprehended before any harm occurred. “My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” he told jurors through an Urdu interpreter. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”
Authorities revealed that the supposed hitmen Merchant paid $5,000 to were actually undercover FBI agents. He was arrested on July 12, 2024, a day before an unrelated attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania. During a search, investigators found a handwritten note containing codewords detailing parts of the plot.
Merchant admitted to participating in voluntary FBI interviews but did not secure a cooperation deal, instead facing trial. During questioning, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta pressed him, asking, “You traveled to the United States for the purpose of hiring Mafia members to kill a politician, correct?” The case highlights the U.S. government’s vigilance against international plots targeting its leaders.
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