Pakistani national accused of plot to assassinate US leaders claims Iranian spies recruited him

A Pakistani national accused of plotting to assassinate US political leaders testified Wednesday that Iranian intelligence agents pressured him to take part in the scheme, claiming they directed him to target President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.

Asif Merchant, 47, told a jury in Brooklyn federal court that he felt compelled to cooperate with the plan because his relatives were being threatened.

“I had no other options. My family was threatened,” Merchant claimed to jurors in a Brooklyn federal court, per the New York Post. He’s been charged with paying two undercover FBI agents posing as hitmen just $5,000 to carry out the assassination plot.

Merchant, originally from Pakistan, testified that an Iranian handler instructed him in April 2024 to travel to the United States and arrange for “maybe to have somebody murdered.” According to his testimony, the handler offered three possible targets.

“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he named three people to me: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” the accused terrorist explained. At the time, Trump and Biden were the frontrunners in the 2024 presidential race. Haley had ended her campaign roughly a month before.

Merchant has pleaded not guilty to terrorism and murder-for-hire charges following his August 2024 arrest. He testified that he had initially offered to help Iranian operatives in late 2022 or early 2023 by assisting with money transfers designed to dodge US sanctions.

He claimed his Iranian contact, identified as Mehrdad Yousef, ordered him to both organize the assassination attempt and obtain unspecified documents. Merchant alleged the man belonged to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to Merchant, he agreed only after Yousef applied “pressure” involving relatives living in Iran. Merchant also has another wife and three children in Pakistan. While he did not detail specific threats against his wife and daughter in Iran, he said the handler appeared outside his residence without warning and showed a firearm during meetings.

“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” he told the jury.

Authorities previously showed jurors video recorded by hidden FBI cameras during a June 2024 meeting at a budget motel in Queens. In the footage, Merchant is seen discussing plans to kill a Republican, who was later identified as Trump.