A Pakistani man has been convicted of planning to kill Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians.The trial showcased allegations of Iran-backed plotting on American soil.
Asif Merchant, 47, was accused of trying to recruit people in the US in a plan targeting Mr Trump and others after Washington’s killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, during his first term.Then president Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, who ran against Mr Trump that year for the Republican presidential nomination, were also targeted in the 2024 plot.
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Merchant was convicted of “murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries” at the behest of Iranian authorities, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
Tehran has denied accusations that it sought to kill Mr Trump or other US officials.The trial in Brooklyn began last week, days before the president ordered an attack on Iran, carried out with Israel, which has broadened into the region’s biggest conflict in years.Merchant admitted to joining the plot with Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, but testified he did so to protect his family in Tehran.Read more from Jattvibe:What is the strategy behind US and Israel’s strikes?Jattvibe speaks to son of expat who died in UAE
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Merchant said he was never ordered to kill a specific person, but that his handler named three people during conversations in the Iranian capital.Police thwarted the plot before any attack took place.A person Merchant contacted in April 2024 to assist with the plot reported his activities and became a confidential informant.Merchant was arrested and pleaded not guilty that year.The Revolutionary Guards have a central role in Iran, with a combination of military and economic power and an intelligence network.
US and Israeli attacks over the last week have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran’s UN ambassador.Several top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been killed.The US military has said six of its service members were killed in a drone strike on a facility in Kuwait.
