Prosecutors confirmed charges against Asif Raza Merchant, a man accused of attempting to hire an assassin to kill a United States politician or government official, during a trial in federal court in Brooklyn.
The alleged plot was linked to retaliation for the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who headed Iran’s foreign military operations and was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed to avenge his death.
During the trial on Wednesday, Merchant testified that he inserted himself into the plot to protect his family from security personnel in Tehran, claiming he believed authorities would intervene before anyone was harmed.
He told the court that he was never ordered to kill a specific individual, but said his Iranian commanders had identified three possible targets: President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Merchant was found guilty of international terrorism and murder-for-hire charges and is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. He faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
According to evidence and testimony presented during the trial, including Merchant’s own statements, he began working with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Pakistan in late 2022 or early 2023 and received training in techniques such as counter-espionage.
Later in 2023, he was allegedly sent to the United States to recruit individuals who could operate on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard while remaining in the country.
Merchant testified that he was aware the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had been designated as a terrorist organization.
Investigators also said Merchant traveled to Iran multiple times to meet with his handler in the Revolutionary Guard.
On July 12, 2024, he was arrested while attempting to leave the United States.
