A Pakistani national with ties to Iran has been charged with plotting to assassinate leaders and government officials in the United States.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has claimed that the plot was a “dangerous scheme to pay off assassins … clearly in the style of Iran”.
Former President Donald Trump was also among his targets, according to the BBC’s US partner CBS, citing sources.
The name of the accused is Asif Merchant. He is accused of trying to hire a hitman in New York to kill influential US officials.
Trump’s security was heightened in June after learning of an Iranian plot to assassinate Republican presidential nominee Trump.
“A plan to assassinate a public official or an American citizen at the behest of a foreigner is a threat to our national security. The FBI will use all its resources and resources against it,” Ray said Tuesday.
Who is Asif Merchant?
Asif Merchant is a citizen of Pakistan. He is said to be 46 years old.
He was arrested last month. He is currently being held in federal custody in New York.
According to the indictment filed by the US Department of Justice, Merchant came to the US from Pakistan in April. But before that he went to Iran for some time.
In the US, he is accused of contacting a person who could assist in the assassination plot.
The man, who has not been named, later informed the police about the merchant.
What was the plan?
Merchant is said to have signaled to the man what his plan was by pointing a gun with his finger.
The indictment states that the work was “not just one batch” and was believed to involve the assistance of persons contacted repeatedly.
It is said that Merchant told the hired killer that he planned to leave America after the officers who were in his sights were killed. He said he would be in touch with the aide after that using a code word.
According to the indictment, Merchant asked the accomplice to arrange a meeting with potential murders.
How was he arrested?
The man met with Merchant last month, posing as a ready-to-kill FBI agent undercover.
According to the indictment, Merchant asked the people who came to meet him to steal documents from the home of one of his target officials, organize protests at political rallies and kill a “political figure”.
Merchant planned to attack his targets in the last week of August or the first week of September.
But he was arrested.
‘Unrelated to Pennsylvania incident’
Trump is not named in the indictment. But sources cited by CBS said former President Trump was among those targeted by Merchant.
The incident at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump’s assassination was attempted last month, is said to be unrelated.
The 20-year-old man who shot in the incident on June 13 against Trump was shot dead by a sniper of the Secret Service on the spot.
Trump and his former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, have been facing security challenges from Tehran since ordering the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Iranian Quid Force in Iraq in 2020 .
