Asif Merchant, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, 46, was arrested on July 12 while preparing to leave the United States. The arrest was initiated after he allegedly told a confidential source of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that he had an "opportunity" for him.
"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," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. "The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran's lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America's national security."
According to reports, Merchant met with undercover New York law enforcement officers posing as "hitmen" back in June, requesting the following: "theft of documents, arranging protests at political rallies, and for them to kill a 'political person.'" He claimed that he had spoken with an unidentified "party" back home in Pakistan and was instructed to "finalize" their plans to kill the person either late August or September after he left the country.
Law Enforcement Today reported that the "terrorist" paid the undercover officers $5,000 in advance and confirmed that the plan was a "go" when the operatives allegedly asked if they were moving forward with it. This was when Merchant made arrangements to leave the U.S., but he was intercepted before he could make his flight. He told authorities that he has a wife and children in Iran as well as a wife and children in Pakistan.
"Fortunately, the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were undercover FBI agents," said Acting Assistant Director Christie Curtis of the FBI New York Field Office. "This case underscores the dedication and formidable efforts of our agents, analysts and prosecutors in New York, Houston, and Dallas. Their success in neutralizing this threat not only prevented a tragic outcome but also reaffirms the FBI's commitment to protecting our nation and its citizens from both domestic and international threats." (Related: Sen. Johnson: FBI CAN'T BE TRUSTED on Trump assassination probe.)
However, critics are now questioning why the foreign national was easily allowed to enter the nation via the FBI's special permission called "significant public benefit parole" despite information that he has recently traveled to Iran and been added and flagged to a terrorism watchlist.
Merchant has no ties to assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania
Merchant's alleged foiled plot has no ties to the shooting of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, a federal government source told Fox News Digital. Investigators said targets included people on "both sides," and not just the Republican presidential frontrunner.
As per Garland, "While our investigation into the attempted assassination remains ongoing, as the FBI has stated multiple times, we have not found any evidence that the shooter had accomplices or co-conspirators, either foreign or domestic."
But as cited in the DOJ release, Merchant's hunt for a hitman was linked with a longstanding urge by Iran to retaliate against the U.S. over the 2020 killing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp's top commander Qassem Soleimani.
The court documents did not mention the name of the alleged targets of the plot but as per the criminal complaint, Merchant told a law enforcement informant that there would be "security all around" one target.
"We have not received any reports on this matter from the U.S. government. However, it is evident that the modus operandi in question contradicts the Iranian government's policy of legally prosecuting the murderer of General Soleimani," the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York said in a statement to Reuters news agency.
Trump, who as president approved the drone strike that killed Soleimani, was discussed as a potential target of the plot, but the scheme was not conceived as a plot to assassinate him, a source told the news outlet. However, security concerns related to Trump and his former advisors have already been raised before about the possible retaliation from Tehran for the airstrike that killed the Iranian top military leader.
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