A Pakistani man with alleged links to Iran has been arrested for plotting to assassinate politicians and officials on US soil. The accused has been identified as Asif Merchant who was arrested last month. Asif is also accused of plotting to assassinate former President Donald Trump.
According to the Associated Press, Asif Merchant arrived in New York in June and paid the alleged assassins $5,000 in advance. During this time he discussed a plan to assassinate a “political figure”. He intended to give further instructions, including the names of targets, when he returned to Pakistan in August or September.
pakistan statement
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According to sources, one of the main targets was former President Donald Trump. Pakistan says it is still waiting for more information about the alleged involvement of its citizen in the failed assassination plot targeting former President Donald Trump. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said, “Before giving our formal response, we also need to know about the past history of the person concerned.”
The court documents did not disclose specific targets. However, US officials noted that former President Donald Trump’s security was beefed up ahead of the Pennsylvania rally because of a previous threat from Iran. The threat was not related to the separate incident in which Trump was wounded by a gunman.
Who is Asif Merchant?
The US Justice Department has accused 46-year-old Pakistani man Asif Raza Merchant of conspiring to murder American politicians or government officials. According to the Justice Department, Merchant went to the US from Pakistan for a specific purpose. But before reaching the US, he spent some time in Iran. A criminal complaint has revealed that Merchant, a resident of Karachi, allegedly has links with Tehran. He told investigators that his wife and children are in Iran and he has a separate family living in Pakistan.
Local media reports revealed that Merchant joined Karachi Bank in 2010 as a branch manager. Here, he was responsible for managing an asset and liability portfolio of over Rs 1,850 million, which included petroleum, textiles, leather, paper products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, as well as various retail, commercial and corporate clients. Merchant’s resume details his roles in marketing to new clients, reviewing and monitoring the branch’s financial affairs, and preparing interim and annual reviews.
There were plans to leave America
Officials stressed that Merchant’s plot was not connected to this unrelated attack. Merchant reportedly has a family in Iran and has frequently traveled to Iran, Syria and Iraq. The Justice Department revealed that he was planning a long-term operation and planned to travel to Pakistan before carrying out the plot. He was arrested on July 12, the same day he planned to leave the US.
Preparations were also made to take revenge for the killing of Suleimani
A complaint against Merchant claims he tried to recruit people in the US to carry out a plot in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020 during Trump’s presidency. The arrest follows long-standing concerns about an intent to avenge the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani. In 2022, an Iranian operative was charged in a failed plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton.
Iranian-Pakistani conspiracy to murder Trump, 5000 dollars were given as contract money to take revenge of Suleimani
There was a deadly attack on Trump
Last month, while Trump was addressing an election rally in Pennsylvania, USA, a series of bullets were fired. During this, a bullet grazed the upper part of Trump’s right ear. Blood oozed out of Trump’s ear, then the security guards came and surrounded Trump from all sides and took him out of the spot and took him to a safe place.
The Secret Service killed the attacker on the spot. The attacker who attacked Trump was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. Thomas was a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He lived barely 70 kilometers away from the incident site. He had a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle, with this rifle he targeted Trump and attacked him in the rally.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)