An Iranian intelligence operative has been convicted by a US federal jury for terrorism and murder-for-hire offences linked to a foiled plot to assassinate American political figures, including President Donald Trump. Prosecutors said the man was sent to the United States by Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to organise political killings and other covert operations on American soil.
The US Department of Justice said Asif Merchant, also known as Asif Raza Merchant, was found guilty of attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries and arranging murder for hire. Merchant faces up to life in prison.
Authorities said he travelled to the United States in April 2024 with orders from the IRGC to recruit operatives and prepare an assassination plot targeting US politicians and government officials.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Merchant had arrived in the country intending to assassinate Trump but was stopped before any attack could take place. “This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement,” she said, adding that the Justice Department would remain vigilant in preventing terrorist attacks.
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According to prosecutors, Merchant had been working with the IRGC since late 2022 or early 2023 after receiving training in tradecraft and counter-surveillance techniques in Pakistan. He travelled repeatedly to Iran to meet with his handler before being tasked in 2024 with recruiting individuals in the United States to steal documents, organise protests and assassinate a senior political figure.
Investigators said Merchant contacted an acquaintance in New York, Nadeem Ali, seeking help to recruit “mafia” members to carry out the plot. Instead, Ali alerted authorities and became a confidential source for law enforcement. During meetings in early June, Merchant allegedly described the assassination plan, making a finger-gun gesture to signal the killing he wanted arranged.
Ali later introduced Merchant to individuals he believed were hired hitmen but who were actually undercover law enforcement officers. In meetings in New York, Merchant requested three services: stealing sensitive documents from a target’s home, staging protests at political rallies and killing a “political person.” He also conducted online searches for the locations of political rallies and sent reports on security arrangements to his IRGC handler.
On June 21, 2024, Merchant paid the undercover officers $5,000 in cash as an advance for the planned assassination. He planned to leave the United States shortly afterwards and communicate with the conspirators from overseas using coded messages. Authorities arrested him on July 12, 2024, before he could depart the country.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the case showed Iran’s continued efforts to target Americans. “Merchant tried to hire someone to kill a politician or a US government official, but the FBI and our partners stopped that deadly plot,” he said, adding that previous attempts by Tehran to harm US citizens on American soil had also failed.
The conviction comes amid escalating tensions between Washington, Israel and Tehran during the ongoing Middle East war. Israel has carried out broad strikes on targets in Tehran while Iran has fired missiles towards Israeli territory. The conflict has widened across the region, with rockets targeting bases hosting US forces in Iraq and drone attacks reported in the Gulf. President Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, even as oil prices surge and global shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slows dramatically, raising fears that the conflict could further destabilise the region.
