Pakistani national, 46-year-old Asif Raza Merchant, had recently visited Iran and sought to hire a hit man to carry out assassination in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020
read more
A Pakistani man, who allegedly has ties with the Iranian government, has been charged in a foiled plot to assassinate former US President Donald Trump and other US government officials on American soil.
Why Pakistan man wanted to assassinate Trump?
The Justice Department said that the Pakistani national, 46-year-old Asif Raza Merchant, who had recently visited Iran, allegedly sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or a US government official in America- in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
A report by Reuters mentioned people familiar with the matter as saying that Trump, who as president approved the drone strike on Soleimani, was a potential target of the plot, but the scheme was not conceived of as a plot to assassinate the former president.
Merchant allegedly was plotting to carry out killings of an unidentified politicians or US government officials and Trump was viewed as a possible target.
Merchant arrested day ahead of Trump’s assassination attempt on July 12
Merchant was arrested in New York on July 12, just a day ahead of an assassination attempt on Trump by 30-year-old Matthew Crooks who fired shots during a rally of the former president in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Officials, however, said that there is no evidence that Merchant’s plan had any connection to the last month’s assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania.
The officials further said that Merchant’s arrest had disrupted what they characterised as a far-ranging plot that also included seeking to steal computer files from US officials.
Prosecutors said Merchant “orchestrated a plot to assassinate US government officials and steal information on US soil.”
They also alleged that Merchant spent time in Iran before traveling to the US from Pakistan.
“After spending time in Iran, Merchant flew from Pakistan to the US to recruit hit men to carry out his scheme,” they said.
As per court records, Merchant was charged with murder for hire in federal court in New York’s Brooklyn borough. A federal judge ordered him detained on July 17.
Refresh for more updates.
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.