Pakistani Business Owner Convicted in Iran-Backed Plot to Assassinate U.S. Politicians

A federal jury in Brooklyn has convicted Asif Merchant, a 47-year-old Pakistani business owner, on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges following a weeklong trial that shed alarming light on alleged Iranian-backed assassination plots targeting American political figures on U.S. soil. Merchant now faces up to life in prison after the jury reached its verdict following only a few hours of deliberations.

The case, which emerged during the 2024 presidential campaign, centered on Merchant's alleged efforts to recruit hit men to assassinate a prominent U.S. politician. According to testimony presented during the trial — including remarkable statements from Merchant himself — he claimed to have been operating under direct instructions from a handler within Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary organization formally designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States government.

Merchant testified that his Revolutionary Guard contact, whom he said he first met approximately three years ago, provided him with countersurveillance training and various assignments, culminating in the assassination scheme. He claimed his handler floated potential targets including former President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Merchant maintained that he only complied with the instructions out of fear for the safety of family members living in Iran, insisting he believed he would be apprehended before any harm could be done.

The plot began to unravel after Merchant used everyday objects arranged on a napkin to illustrate a shooting at a political rally to an acquaintance, whom he subsequently asked to help recruit assassins. That acquaintance instead connected Merchant with undercover FBI agents, who secretly recorded his communications and transactions. Merchant paid the supposed hired killers $5,000 in cash in a parked vehicle in Manhattan, stating he needed services that could include eliminating "some political person."

Federal authorities arrested Merchant on July 12, 2024, as he was preparing to board a flight to Pakistan. During a subsequent search, investigators reportedly discovered a handwritten note containing codewords corresponding to various elements of the plot. Notably, his arrest came just one day before an unrelated assassination attempt against former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania — an incident officials stated appeared unconnected to Merchant's activities, though they acknowledged they had been tracking a separate Iranian threat against Trump.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded the conviction, stating: "This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement." FBI Director Kash Patel echoed that sentiment, warning that Iran's efforts to harm American citizens on domestic soil were not isolated incidents.

Prosecutors rejected Merchant's defense of acting under duress, noting he took concrete steps to advance the plot on behalf of the IRGC and did not proactively alert authorities. The Iranian government has categorically denied any involvement in plots to kill U.S. officials. Merchant's defense attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.