Summary
A federal jury in Brooklyn found a Pakistani national guilty of participating in an Iran-directed plan to kill prominent U.S. political figures in 2024. Prosecutors say the plot was motivated by the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Law enforcement intervened after a contact in the United States reported the defendant’s approach and became a confidential informant.
Key points
- Asif Merchant was convicted of murder-for-hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, charges the Department of Justice attributed to direction from Iranian authorities. Sectors potentially affected: defense and security.
- The alleged 2024 plot named multiple high-profile targets, including then-President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden, and presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Sectors potentially affected: political risk and national security.
- Law enforcement says the scheme was stopped before any violence occurred after an April 2024 contact reported Merchant’s activities and cooperated as a confidential informant. Sectors potentially affected: intelligence and counterterrorism operations.
Risks and uncertainties
- Escalation risk: The case is set against broader U.S. and Israeli military actions that prosecutors say have expanded into a major regional conflict, creating uncertainty for security and defense sectors.
- Attribution and denial: Tehran has denied targeting U.S. officials, leaving questions about direct Iranian state responsibility as asserted by prosecutors.
The Department of Justice announced on Friday that a jury convicted Asif Merchant of conspiring to arrange killings of senior U.S. political figures two years earlier at the behest of Iranian authorities. Federal prosecutors detailed that Merchant worked to recruit individuals inside the United States in a plan conceived as retaliation for the 2020 U.S. strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Prosecutors identified targets in the alleged 2024 plot as including Donald Trump, then the focus of political debate, as well as Joe Biden and Nikki Haley - the latter of whom had sought the Republican presidential nomination that year against Trump. The DOJ statement described Merchant’s convictions as encompassing "murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries," and attributed those actions to direction from Iranian authorities.
The criminal trial began last week in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the Justice Department said. That start date came just days before orders from President Trump led to an assault on Iran carried out with Israeli forces, which federal officials describe as having widened into the region’s largest war in years.
Merchant acknowledged involvement with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during testimony, but asserted he had acted under duress, saying he took part unwillingly to protect relatives residing in Tehran. He told the court he was not explicitly ordered to kill any particular individual; nevertheless, he said an Iranian handler had mentioned three names during conversations in the Iranian capital.
Law enforcement agents say the plot was disrupted before any attack could be carried out. According to the DOJ, an individual Merchant contacted in April 2024 reported his overtures to authorities and subsequently worked as a confidential informant. Merchant was arrested later that year and entered a not guilty plea at the time of his arrest.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps holds a central and powerful position in Iran, combining military capability with economic influence and intelligence reach, prosecutors noted. Tehran has firmly denied allegations that it sought to target Trump or other U.S. officials.
In parallel to the prosecution, broader hostilities in the region have produced significant reported casualties. U.S. and Israeli strikes since Saturday have, according to Iran’s U.N. ambassador, killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands. The ambassador also said that many top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been killed. U.S. military statements reported six service members killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait, while Israeli tallies cited at least 10 civilian deaths across Israel.
The criminal conviction marks the culmination of a case in which prosecutors described a transnational conspiracy foiled by a cooperating contact within the United States. The verdict leaves questions about state attribution and broader regional ramifications amid ongoing military exchanges.