A Pakistani man accused of plotting to assassinate United States politicians, including President Donald Trump, has told a U.S. court that he was pressured by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to participate in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme.
The suspect, Asif Raza Merchant, 47, is facing charges in the United States after prosecutors accused him of attempting to hire hitmen to assassinate prominent American political figures.
He was charged in September 2024 but has pleaded not guilty.
Merchant testified during his trial on Wednesday that he agreed to participate in the plot because he feared for the safety of his family members living in Tehran.
According to reports by several U.S. media outlets, Merchant said members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps pressured him into helping plan the operation.
“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” Merchant told the court through an Urdu interpreter, according to The Washington Post.
“I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”
Merchant told the court he was never explicitly ordered to kill a specific individual. However, he said an Iranian contact referenced three prominent figures during discussions about the plan.
Those individuals were President Donald Trump, former U.S. president Joe Biden, and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
U.S. officials have previously alleged that the Iranian government has sought revenge against American leaders following the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike ordered during Trump’s presidency.
According to testimony cited by The New York Times, Merchant said he began working with an individual linked to the Revolutionary Guards around 2022 after being approached about doing “work with the Iranian government.”
Prosecutors allege that the operation involved a broader set of activities beyond an assassination attempt.
These reportedly included organising protests, stealing documents, laundering money, and potentially arranging the killing of a political target.
Merchant told the court he initially agreed to the plan because he feared the consequences for his wife and adopted daughter living in Iran if he refused.
Authorities said Merchant was eventually arrested after attempting to hire individuals to carry out the killings.
However, the supposed hitmen were actually undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The case has drawn renewed attention amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, particularly following recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Merchant’s trial continues as prosecutors attempt to prove that the alleged assassination plot was connected to Iranian government operatives.
