Who Is Asif Merchant? Pakistani Man Convicted Of Plotting To Kill Trump, US Officials

Last Updated:March 07, 2026, 08:26 IST

Pakistani man Asif Merchant was convicted in Brooklyn for plotting to assassinate US President Trump, linked to Iran’s IRGC.

A Pakistani man was found guilty of plotting to assassinate US President Donald Trump and other American officials in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, prosecutors said.

The accused, identified as Asif Merchant, was convicted in a federal court in Brooklyn on charges including murder-for-hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism across national borders. Prosecutors said that Merchant was linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and had travelled to the United States to arrange political assassinations.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Merchant arrived in the US in April 2024 and met individuals he believed were hired assailants in New York in June. They were actually undercover law enforcement officers, and Merchant was arrested in July 2024 before leaving the country.

Authorities said that Merchant admitted during the trial that he had been sent to the US by the IRGC to recruit people to carry out operations, including stealing documents, staging protests and killing a political figure. He even paid $5,000 in advance to the supposed hitmen as part of the plan.

He claimed before the court that his family was threatened and that he was forced into the plot to save them.

“I had no other options. My family was threatened," Merchant told jurors in Brooklyn federal court.

“This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement," US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said after the verdict.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the conviction shows the agency’s commitment to stopping threats linked to foreign actors. “Merchant tried to hire someone to kill a politician or a US government official, but the FBI and our partners stopped that deadly plot," he said.

Who Is Asif Merchant?

Merchant, a former banker with a failed banana business, told the court he hoped to eventually inform US authorities about the plot and seek legal residency in the country.

He began working with Iranian operatives in Pakistan in late 2022 or early 2023 and received training in surveillance and covert operations. He later travelled to Iran several times to meet his handler before being sent back to the United States in 2024 with instructions to arrange assassinations.

His handler, who he named as Mehrdad Yousef, was reportedly a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Merchant said he agreed to work along the plot because Yousef had “put pressure on his Iranian relatives".

He went on to claim Yousef made an unannounced visit outside his Iran-based home and had displayed a weapon during their meetings.

News world Who Is Asif Merchant? Pakistani Man Convicted Of Plotting To Kill Trump, US Officials

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