Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national, arrived in Houston, Texas around April 13 of this year after spending time in Iran, according to newly unsealed court documents. About a week later, he flew to New York to meet with a person he believed could assist in executing the plot. However, the individual reported Merchant to law enforcement and became a confidential informant, according to a DOJ press release dated Aug. 6. In early June, Merchant met the confidential source in New York to outline the assassination scheme, emphasizing that it would not be a one-time opportunity and would be ongoing. During the meeting, Merchant allegedly began "planning potential assassination scenarios and quizzed the confidential source on how he would kill a target" in various situations, as stated by Justice Department officials. Merchant reportedly asked the source how they believed the target would die in those different scenarios, adding that there would be “security all around” the target. Merchant indicated that the assassination would occur after he left the U.S. and that he would communicate from overseas using code words. When asked by the source if he had contacted his handler overseas, Merchant confirmed that he was instructed to "finalize" the plan and leave the country. In mid-June, Merchant met with individuals he believed were hitmen, who were actually undercover law enforcement officers, in New York. He informed them that they would receive instructions on “who to kill either the last week of August or the first week of September,” according to the DOJ. Merchant arranged a $5,000 advance payment to the supposed hitmen, which he delivered on June 21. He subsequently booked a flight to leave the U.S. on July 12 but was arrested by law enforcement officers prior to his departure. No officials who may have been targets were named in the DOJ release or court documents. The arrest took place just one day before an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and follows months of FBI warnings about alleged Iranian spies orchestrating plots to kill current and former American officials. “This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “A foreign-directed plot to kill a public official, or any U.S. citizen, is a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.” Last month, federal officials said they were gathering an increasing amount of evidence that Iran is working on plots to kill Trump, possibly before the 2024 election. “The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the arrest of a man with Iranian ties in connection with a murder-for-hire plot targeting U.S. lawmakers and government officials.
