A Pakistani man with alleged links to Iran has been arrested for conspiring to assassinate politicians and officials on American soil. The accused has been identified as Asif Merchant who was arrested last month. Asif is also accused of conspiring to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
According to the Associated Press, Asif Merchant arrived in New York in June and paid an advance of $5,000 to the alleged killers. During this he discussed a plan to assassinate a “political figure”. His intention was to give further instructions, including naming the targets, upon his return to Pakistan in August or September.
Pakistan’s statement
According to sources, one of the main targets was former President Donald Trump. Pakistan says it is still waiting for more information regarding the alleged involvement of its citizen in the failed assassination plot targeting former President Donald Trump. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said, “Before giving our formal response, we will also need to know about the past history of the person concerned.”
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Specific targets were not disclosed in court documents. However, US officials noted that security for former President Donald Trump had been increased ahead of the Pennsylvania rally due to a previous threat from Iran. The threat was not related to a separate incident in which Trump was wounded by a gunman.
Who is Asif Merchant?
The US Justice Department has accused 46-year-old Pakistani man Asif Raza Merchant of conspiring to assassinate American politicians or government officials. According to the Justice Department, Merchant had gone to America from Pakistan for a specific purpose. But before reaching America he spent some time in Iran. A criminal complaint revealed that Karachi resident Merchant allegedly has links to Tehran. He told investigators that his wife and children were in Iran and he had a separate family living in Pakistan.
Local media reports revealed that Merchant worked as a branch manager at Karachi Bank in 2010. Here his responsibility was to manage an asset and liability portfolio of over Rs 1,850 million, which included petroleum, textiles, leather, paper products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals as well as various retail, commercial and corporate clients. The merchant’s resume details his or her roles in marketing to new customers, reviewing and monitoring the branch’s financial affairs, and preparing interim and annual reviews.
The plan was to leave America
Authorities insisted that Merchant’s plot was not linked to this unrelated attack. Merchant reportedly has family in Iran and has frequently traveled to Iran, Syria and Iraq. The Justice Department revealed that he was planning a long-term operation and was planning to travel to Pakistan before pursuing the plot. He was arrested on July 12, the same day he planned to leave the US.
Preparations were also made to take revenge of Sulemani’s murder.
A complaint against Merchant claims he defrauded people in the US to carry out a plot in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani in a 2020 US drone strike in Baghdad during Trump’s presidency. Tried to recruit. The arrest follows long-standing concerns about Qassem Soleimani’s intentions to avenge his killing in 2020. In 2022, an Iranian operative was charged in a failed plot to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Iranian-Pakistani conspiracy to murder Trump, a betel nut of 5000 dollars was given to take revenge of Sulemani
There was a fatal attack on Trump
Last month, while addressing an election rally in Pennsylvania, USA, there were multiple gunshots fired. During this, a bullet touched the upper part of Trump’s right ear. Blood was coming out of Trump’s ears, then security guards came and surrounded Trump from all sides and took him out of the incident to a safe place.
The Secret Service killed the attacker on the spot. The attacker who attacked Trump was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Thomas was a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He lived barely 70 kilometers away from the incident site. He had a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, with the same rifle he targeted Trump and attacked the rally.