Court footage and FBI undercover meetings were presented as a Pakistani defendant described how alleged Iranian pressure and threats to his family drew him into a controversial plot.
Asif Merchant, a Pakistani national accused of involvement in an alleged assassination plot targeting US political figures, testified in a Brooklyn federal court during his trial. | https://www.justice.gov/
A Pakistani man accused of plotting to kill prominent American political leaders has told a US court that Iranian intelligence operatives forced him into the plan by threatening his family.
The testimony, delivered on Wednesday in a federal court in Brooklyn, came from Asif Merchant, a 47-year-old former banker who is facing terrorism and murder-for-hire charges. Merchant said he felt he had little choice but to follow instructions because his relatives were under pressure.
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According to a report by The New York Post, Merchant told jurors that an Iranian contact asked him in April 2024 to travel to the United States to “maybe to have somebody murdered”.
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Merchant testified that the handler later mentioned three possible targets: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley. At the time, Trump and Biden were leading figures in the race for the 2024 US Presidential Election.
Merchant told the court he had previously been involved in activities meant to help Iran bypass sanctions through money laundering. He identified the person directing him as Mehrdad Yousef, whom he described as a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
During his testimony, Merchant said Yousef had visited his home in Iran and displayed a weapon during a tense encounter, which he interpreted as a threat to his family. Though he did not give specific details about threats made against his wife and daughter, he repeatedly told the court that the safety of his relatives weighed heavily on him.
“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” he told the court.
Prosecutors told the court that Merchant later handed over USD 5,000 to two men he believed were contract killers. Those men, however, were actually undercover FBI agents running a sting operation.
Footage shown in court reportedly captures Merchant meeting them at a Queens motel in June 2024. During the conversation, prosecutors say he spoke about the alleged plan and asked how the intended target would be killed.
However, Merchant insisted that he never believed the plan would succeed. He told jurors he expected to be arrested and intended to cooperate with US authorities once caught.
“I didn’t think I would be able to be successful,” he said in court, adding that the small payment offered showed how unrealistic the plan was.
The accused has pleaded not guilty since his arrest in August 2024. He is expected to face cross-examination on Thursday. If convicted, Merchant could face life imprisonment, according to The New York Post.
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