By A Pakistani businessman accused of attempting to orchestrate political assassinations in the United States on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told a federal jury this week that he acted under pressure, claiming threats against his family in Iran forced him into the scheme.
Asif Merchant, 47, testified Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court that his involvement began after a chance business relationship evolved into something far more dangerous, according to CBS News. Merchant, who regularly traveled to the United States for his garment business, said he first connected with an Iranian intelligence operative in late 2022. What began as conversations about informal money transfers soon escalated into training in countersurveillance and requests to recruit people inside the United States.
The relationship, Merchant told jurors through an Urdu interpreter, gradually shifted from vague cooperation to explicit instructions tied to violence.
“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he told me — he named three people: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” Merchant recalled.
According to Merchant, the Iranian handler eventually tasked him with identifying Americans willing to assist with various operations, including protests, thefts, money laundering and potentially a murder plot targeting prominent political figures.
Merchant insisted that he never intended to carry out any killing and that he was acting out of fear for relatives in Iran.
“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” he testified. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”
Merchant said he believed he would ultimately be caught by U.S. authorities before any violence occurred and planned to cooperate with investigators afterward. He suggested such cooperation might also improve his chances of securing a green card.
Federal prosecutors, however, argue that Merchant’s actions went far beyond reluctant compliance.
Evidence presented at trial shows that in 2024 Merchant conducted reconnaissance at political events, including rallies featuring former President Donald Trump. Prosecutors say he sketched potential attack plans and delivered $5,000 in cash—money gathered from a relative—to individuals he believed were hired assassins.
Those supposed assassins were actually undercover FBI agents.
Authorities arrested Merchant on July 12, 2024, one day before a separate and unrelated attempt on Trump’s life occurred at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
During cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nina Gupta pressed Merchant on the nature of his activities.
“You traveled to the United States for the purpose of hiring Mafia members to kill a politician, correct?”
“That’s right,” Merchant replied calmly.
Merchant told jurors he tried to stall the operation by feeding false information to his Iranian contact. In one instance, he said he concealed fabricated surveillance reports inside a book shipped overseas in order to maintain the illusion that he was progressing with the plot.
He maintained that he had “no other option” because the handler appeared to know the locations of his relatives in Iran and seemed to be monitoring his movements.
Prosecutors have challenged that claim, noting that Merchant never contacted law enforcement before his arrest and failed to mention alleged coercion during voluntary interviews with FBI agents.
Merchant responded that he feared investigators would not believe him.
According to his testimony, FBI questioning made him feel as though agents already assumed he was a highly trained operative.
“And are you a super-spy?” his defense lawyer, Avraham Moskowitz, asked.
“No,” Merchant responded. “Absolutely not.”
The trial is unfolding amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran following a series of military strikes in the Middle East that culminated in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Donald Trump described the strike as a preemptive action, saying: “I got him before he got me.”
Iran has had plots to assassinate various members of the Trump administration, both past and present.
Jurors in the Brooklyn case have been instructed to ignore outside news coverage about international developments and focus solely on the evidence presented in court.
Iran’s government has repeatedly denied involvement in plots targeting U.S. officials.
Merchant faces multiple federal charges, including attempted terrorism transcending national boundaries and murder-for-hire. While he has acknowledged traveling to the United States with the intention of arranging violence.
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