- Asif Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani national with ties to Iran, has been indicted for attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries and murder-for-hire.
- Merchant sought to hire individuals for multiple tasks, including theft of documents, arranging protests, and most critically, assassinating a “political person.”
- Merchant arrived in the U.S. from Pakistan in April 2024, after spending time in Iran, with the intent to orchestrate this assassination.
- He engaged with individuals he believed could assist in the plot, including paying $5,000 to undercover law enforcement officers he thought were hitmen.