August M
A Pakistani businessman accused of planning the assassination of Donald Trump has told a U.S. court he was pressured into the scheme by Iranian security officials.
Testifying in his own defense in New York, the defendant said threats against his family left him feeling he had no choice but to cooperate, reports The Guardian.
Defendant testifies
Asif Merchant, 47, is on trial in federal court in Brooklyn on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges.
According to The Guardian, Merchant told jurors he was recruited by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and ordered to travel to the United States in 2024.
Speaking through an Urdu interpreter, he said he agreed to participate only because officials threatened his wife and adopted daughter in Tehran.
“I was not wanting to do this so willingly,” Merchant told the court.
Alleged operation
Merchant testified that an Iranian contact, identified as Revolutionary Guard official Mehrdad Yousef, instructed him to recruit criminals in the United States.
He said the plan involved several activities, including staging protests, stealing documents, laundering money and arranging a killing.
Potential targets discussed during conversations in Tehran allegedly included Donald Trump, then president Joe Biden and former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
However, Merchant said he was never told exactly who the intended victim would be.
FBI sting
Prosecutors say Merchant later met men he believed were hired killers and paid them $5,000 in cash.
Those individuals were actually undercover FBI agents, according to court evidence.
Recordings played for jurors captured him discussing the possibility of hiring someone to kill a political figure.
Merchant was arrested in Texas in July 2024 as he prepared to leave the United States.
Prosecutors dispute claim
Federal prosecutors reject Merchant’s claim that he acted under duress.
In court filings, they argued there is no evidence that Iranian officials threatened his family.
They also pointed to recorded conversations and evidence that Merchant allegedly outlined parts of the plan in a hotel room meeting.
Investigators say much of the case is based on information from a man Merchant trusted who was secretly working as an FBI informant.
Wider tensions
The trial is unfolding during heightened tensions between the United States and Iran.
Recent U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran reportedly killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to reports cited by The Guardian.
Trump also referenced the alleged plot while commenting on Khamenei’s death, telling ABC News: “I got him before he got me.”
Iran has denied targeting Trump or other American officials.
Sources: The Guardian, AP
