US charges man with alleged ties to Iran in foiled assassination plot

A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran has been charged in the United States in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Asif Merchant, 46, sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleiman in 2020, according to a criminal complaint.

Merchant, who prosecutors allege spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States, was charged with murder for hire in federal court in New York’s Brooklyn borough. A federal judge ordered him detained on July 16, according to court records.

“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

FBI investigators believe that former President Donald Trump, who approved the drone strike on Soleimani, and other current and former US government officials were the intended targets of the plot, CNN reported, citing a US official.

Court documents do not name the alleged targets of the plot. Merchant told a law enforcement informant that there would be “security all around” one target, according to the criminal complaint.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment further. Trump’s presidential campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.