A Pakistani national accused of plotting to assassinate the US President has been convicted by a federal court in New York, according to reports from American media.
Asif Merchant was found guilty by a jury in a federal court in Brooklyn of attempted terrorism and murder-for-hire after prosecutors said he attempted to organise an assassination plot targeting Donald Trump at the alleged direction of Iranian operatives.
The verdict was delivered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York following a trial that examined Merchant’s alleged links with Iranian intelligence figures and his efforts to recruit individuals to carry out the attack.
During the trial, Merchant testified that he had been pressured by Iranian operatives to take part in the plot, claiming threats were made against members of his family if he refused to cooperate.
“I had no other options. My family was threatened,” Merchant told the jury during testimony reported by US media outlets.
Prosecutors said the accused attempted to hire individuals to carry out the killings, offering payment to people he believed were contract assassins. According to court proceedings, Merchant paid around 5,000 US dollars to two undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who were posing as hired killers.
Investigators said the payment was intended as an advance for a plan that involved targeting high-profile American political figures.
Merchant told the court that an Iranian handler instructed him in April 2024 to travel to the United States to arrange the killing of a political leader. According to his testimony, the handler initially did not identify a specific target but later mentioned several names.
He said the individuals referenced included Donald Trump, then a leading candidate in the US presidential race, as well as Joe Biden and Nikki Haley.
At the time, Trump and Biden were widely seen as the frontrunners in the 2024 US presidential contest, while Haley had also been a prominent contender during the Republican primary campaign.
Merchant, described during the trial as a former banker, told the court he had previously been involved in financial activities that helped Iranian entities evade international sanctions through money laundering.
In testimony cited by American media, he identified his alleged handler as Mehrdad Yousef, whom he claimed was associated with Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The case has drawn renewed attention as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to escalate amid ongoing military exchanges involving the US and Israel against Iranian targets.
The verdict also comes during a period of heightened conflict in West Asia, where strikes and counterstrikes have been reported between Iranian forces and US-linked assets across the region.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump spoke publicly on Friday about ongoing US military operations against Iran, offering a highly positive assessment of the campaign.
Speaking during a roundtable discussion on collegiate sports at the White House, Trump said the United States had achieved overwhelming military success against Iranian forces.
He told reporters that if asked to rate the operations on a scale of zero to ten, he would give them “a 12 to a 15,” claiming Iran’s military capabilities had been significantly degraded.
Trump asserted that Iranian army, naval and communications structures had been destroyed and that several layers of leadership had been eliminated.
According to his remarks, Iran’s naval fleet had also been destroyed during the operations.
