The US Justice Department says it has charged a Pakistani national with murder-for-hire as part of an alleged plot to assassinate a US politician or government official in the United States. The scheme was foiled by law enforcement.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the plot “allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the Justice Department said Asif Merchant, who is 46 years old, has been prosecuted.
The suspect allegedly tried to hire assassins after entering the US from Pakistan last April.
In June, the suspect allegedly paid 5,000 dollars as an advance payment to would-be assassins he met in New York.
The statement said the purported assassins were in fact undercover US law enforcement officers. It added that Merchant was arrested when he was about to leave the US last month.
Merchant allegedly said he has a wife and children in Iran.
The statement did not identify those targeted in the scheme.
ABC News reported that it was told by multiple sources that one of the intended targets was former US President Donald Trump.