The US Department of Justice has arrested 46-year-old Asif Merchant of Pakistani origin for alleged conspiracy to attack former President Donald Trump and other prominent American politicians. Asif Merchant is accused of having close ties with the Iranian government and trying to organize these attacks.
According to court documents, Asif Merchant arrived in New York last April to plan the assassination and hire the attackers. He promised to pay the attackers five thousand dollars in advance so that they could carry out the attacks in late August or early September. Additionally, Asif Merchant was also planning a fake protest to portray the protest as a hoax after the attack.
The merchant is betrayed by a trusted colleague, leading to his arrest. The FBI arrested him shortly after meeting the alleged attackers on July 12. Court documents also show that Merchant expressed a desire to attack American politicians because, according to him, they were “harming Pakistan and the Muslim world”.
This is not the first time that Iran has been accused of planning an attack on the United States. Even before this, the Iranian government has been accused of trying to avenge the death of General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack in 2020.
Asif Merchant is currently in FBI custody, and further investigations are underway against him.
Asif Merchant has nothing to do with Trump assassination, White House
White House spokeswoman Karen Jean Perry says that Asif Merchant has nothing to do with the assassination attempt on Trump.
According to the US Department of Justice, Asif Merchant said that he is a Pakistani citizen and lives in Pakistan, he has a wife and children in Pakistan and also has a wife and children in Iran. Stealing USB drives from, was part of planning the protest.
The US Department of Justice says the plan involved killing a politician or government official. He has traveled to Iran, Syria and Iraq several times.
It should be noted that forty-six-year-old Asif Merchant has been accused of murder conspiracy by hired killers.
It has been claimed that Donald Trump’s security has been tightened in recent weeks by the Secret Service because of knowledge of the merchant plot.
Although Asif Merchant has been charged at a time when there has been an assassination attempt on Donald Trump on July 13, it has been clarified that there is no evidence that Asif Merchant was related to the attack on Trump in Pennsylvania.
What code words did Pakistanis use to kill American politicians?
The American Department of Justice has formally charged a Pakistani citizen on suspicion of allegedly conspiring to kill politicians or government officials in the United States.
According to the document presented in the court, from April to July this year, Asif Merchant and others traveled to America to kill politicians or government officials in America. The names of those referred to as others have not been disclosed.
According to the document, Merchant had come to America from Pakistan after spending time in Iran to recruit people for the conspiracy.
In the US, he contacted a man, identified only as CS, but the man alerted law enforcement and became an informant.
The merchant asked a person named CS to arrange for hired killers, on which the person named CS offered the services of two persons who were actually two law enforcement officers and met the merchant in disguise. 5 thousand dollars was also given as an advance.
It has been claimed that Asif Merchant is a Pakistani citizen who was born in Karachi in 1978. He lives in Pakistan. He has a wife and children in Pakistan and a wife and children in Iran. Before coming to America, he has traveled to Iran, Syria and Iraq several times.
It is claimed that the merchant left Pakistan for Istanbul on April 10 and reached Houston around April 13 to execute his plot.
