Pakistan’s Asif Merchant planned to kill former US President Donald Trump, has ties to Iran—Who is he?

Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national alleged to have connections with Iran, was arrested in July 2024 for allegedly plotting to carry out assassinations of unidentified politicians or US government officials on American soil, the Justice Department said on Tuesday. 

Asif Merchant planned to kill former President Donald Trump, reported Bloomberg.

According to the US Justice Department reports, Asif Merchant, 46, allegedly sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or a US government official in retaliation for the US drone attack that killed Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Who is Asif Merchant

1. According to court documents, Asif Merchant is a Pakistani national. Media reports stated that he was born in Karachi in 1978.
2. Asif Merchant has a wife and children in Iran and another family in Pakistan, mentioned FBI reports.
3. The US Justice Department said that, according to his travel records, Asif Merchant frequently travelled to Iran, Syria and Iraq.

4. Merchant had arrived in the US in April 2024 and contacted a person he believed could assist him with his assassination plots, according to FBI reports.

5. He then met with the man, who later reported Merchant’s conduct to law enforcement. In June, he became a confidential source in New York and explained Merchant's plan.

6. “Merchant told the source that the opportunity he had for him was not one-time and would be ongoing - making a ‘finger-gun’ motion with his hand indicating it was regarding a killing,” the FBI said in a statement, reported Hindustan Times

7. Merchant had further informed the source (the alleged hitman) that his intended victims were in the US, adding that his plot involved multiple criminal schemes such as stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home. He also mentioned planning a protest and killing a politician or government official.

8. Merchant told the alleged hitman that the assassination would occur after he left the United States and he would communicate with him from overseas using code words, the FBI said.

9. According to the FBI statement, Merchant had plans to kill an official in the last week of August or the first week of September.

10. On June 21, 2024, Merchant met the hitman and paid him around INR 4 lakh ($5,000) to carry out the plots. Subsequently, he made flight arrangements to leave the US on July 12. However, the law enforcement agents arrested him before he could go.