Trending Now - Suspect in Trump Assassination Plot Links Iran to Conspiracy

WHO:

Asif Raza Merchant, 47, a Pakistani national and businessman

President Donald Trump, then-President Joe Biden, and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley mentioned as potential assassination targets

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military organization

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi

FBI Director Kash Patel

Merchant's attorney, Avraham Moskowitz

WHAT:

Merchant was charged in September 2024 with seeking to hire hitmen to assassinate U.S. politicians, including Trump, Biden, and Haley.

He was convicted on March 6, 2026, of terrorism and murder-for-hire charges.

Merchant attempted to hire hitmen and paid $5,000 in cash to undercover FBI agents posing as assassins.

He testified that he was pressured by the IRGC to organize the assassinations to protect his family in Iran.

Merchant's plot involved arranging protests, stealing documents, laundering money, and potentially committing murder.

He was arrested on July 12, 2024, while preparing to leave for Pakistan.

WHERE:

Trial held in Brooklyn, New York

Merchant's arrest occurred at an airport in Houston, Texas

The assassination plot was linked to a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an unrelated shooting occurred on July 13, 2024.

WHEN:

Merchant was charged in September 2024.

He was arrested on July 12, 2024.

His trial concluded with a conviction on March 6, 2026.

WHY:

Merchant claimed he was coerced into the assassination plot by the IRGC to protect his family in Tehran.

He believed he would be arrested before any harm could be done.

HOW:

Merchant testified that he began working with an IRGC member in 2022, who instructed him to recruit U.S. residents for various tasks, including assassination.

He outlined his assassination plan on a napkin and showed it to an acquaintance, who introduced him to undercover FBI agents.

Merchant's actions included researching Trump rally locations and drafting plans for a shooting at a political event.

Asif Raza Merchant, a 47-year-old Pakistani businessman, was convicted on March 6, 2026, for attempting to hire hitmen to assassinate U.S. politicians, including Trump, Biden, and Haley. He was arrested on July 12, 2024, at an airport in Houston while preparing to leave for Pakistan, after paying $5,000 in cash to undercover FBI agents posing as assassins. During his trial in Brooklyn, Merchant testified that he was coerced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to carry out the plot, which involved various criminal activities, all in an effort to protect his family in Iran.