A federal jury in America has convicted Pakistani national Asif Merchant on terrorism and ‘murder for hire’ charges. According to US officials, Merchant was a trained operative of Iran’s military wing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and was sent to the US to carry out a plan to assassinate American leaders. American officials have not revealed the name of that leader here, but it is believed that he Conspiracy to assassinate Donald Trump May be connected to. There was firing once at Trump during the US presidential election campaign and a person even threatened to kill him.

US President Donald Trump had also mentioned the assassination conspiracy against him behind the attack on Iran. Trump had claimed that elements associated with Iran were planning to assassinate him. Regarding the assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei, Trump had said, ‘Before they kill me. I killed them. Here Trump was referring to the conspiracy to murder him, in which Pakistani citizen Asif Merchant has now been held guilty.

How was the murder conspiracy hatched?

According to the investigating agencies, Asif Merchant had reached America in April 2024. In June, he met people in New York whom he considered to be betel nut killers. Although they were actually undercover officers of American law enforcement agencies. Merchant had also allegedly given an advance of $5,000 to get an American politician or government official assassinated there. His plan was to order the assassination after leaving America, so that suspicion would stay away from him.

Then how did the conspiracy fail?

Merchant had contacted his acquaintance in New York named Nadeem Ali, whom he wanted to make his partner in this mission. But Nadeem Ali gave information about this entire conspiracy to American agencies and he became their secret source.

After this the FBI and other agencies conducted an undercover operation. The people Merchant met in mid-June were actually officials of the agencies. During this time, he detailed his plan to steal documents, organize protests and assassinate a ‘political figure’.

What was the mission of the merchant?

According to court documents, Merchant’s mission was not limited to murder alone. He told his colleagues to assign three different tasks:

  • Stealing documents or USB drives from the target’s home
  • protesting at political rallies
  • assassinate an American leader or official

Merchant had also said that there will be tight security around the person who will be targeted. Therefore the plan will have to be executed very carefully.

Used to work for IRGC

The investigation revealed that Merchant started working for the IRGC in late 2022 or early 2023. In Pakistan, he was given training in espionage and counter-surveillance, so that he could escape surveillance. After this he went to Iran several times and met his handler. In 2023, he was sent to America, where his job was to search for people who could be recruited and made to work for the IRGC.

Used to collect information from internet

According to officials, Merchant was also collecting information about American political rallies on the internet. He used to send details related to security arrangements to his IRGC handler, so that further planning could be done.

American agencies arrested Asif Merchant in July 2024. Now, if convicted by a federal jury, he could face up to life in prison. After Trump’s statement and this murder plot coming to light, it would not be wrong to say that because of this one person the world has reached the brink of war today.



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