2024-08-08 06:43:46
A Pakistani man the FBI believes is a “100 percent Iranian agent” has been arrested in the United States. The man is accused of plotting to kill former President Donald Trump and other American politicians.
FBI Director Christopher Wray says “dangerous murder-for-hire plot taken straight out of an Iranian playbook.”
Ray said Asif Merchant, 46, was arrested in July and was not connected to the assassination attempt on the former president in Pennsylvania. The Pakistani had no ties to Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Merchant is currently in New York giving evidence. As Ray noted, the case is still being developed, but the Pakistani’s scheme of actions is already known.
Merchant arrived in the US from Pakistan in April after a stint in Iran where he became a “proxy agent” tasked with avenging the assassination of prominent Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, who was killed on Trump’s orders in 2020.
Although Christopher Wray did not name Trump among Merchant’s potential targets, American media, citing FBI sources, claim that Trump was the main, but not the only, target.
After arriving in the United States, Merchant visited strip bars and other establishments, trying to find a hitman. He eventually found one, but the “hitman”, having taken an advance of $500, reported his plans to law enforcement.
The FBI developed an operation that revealed that Merchant was looking for a hitman to work with on a regular basis to kill other politicians. Merchant was planning to leave the US before the first murder, but promised to stay in touch.
In addition to the murders, Merchant asked the “hitman” to steal documents from the victim’s home and organize protests at political rallies. He planned to announce specific targets in the last week of August or the first week of September, when the murders were to take place.
Earlier, Cursor reported on how Trump publicly hugged the girl who saved his life.