Pakistani Man 'Linked to Iran' Denies Charges of Attempting to Assassinate American Officials

A Pakistani man alleged to have ties to the Iranian government denied charges related to planning the assassination of American politicians in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The arraignment session for the 46-year-old Pakistani man named Asif Merchant was held on Monday, September 17, in a federal court in New York. He has been charged by the federal prosecutor with two counts of attempting to commit terrorist acts within the United States and conspiracy to commit murder. At the end of the session, Judge Robert Levy ruled that the defendant must remain in jail until the trial begins. The defense attorney for the Pakistani national objected to the judge's ruling, stating that his client has been in isolation since his arrest and has only been allowed to exercise once in two months, losing between 7 to 9 kilograms due to prison officials not providing him with 'halal food suitable for Shia Muslims.' The U.S. federal prosecutor claims that Asif Merchant had spent some time in Iran before traveling to the U.S. to recruit individuals who were supposed to participate in these plots. The prosecutor states that this Pakistani citizen told a trusted informant of law enforcement that he intended to steal confidential documents from a specific location and also organize protests in the U.S. A source familiar with the U.S. prosecutor's investigation, who wished to remain unnamed, told Reuters that Asif Merchant had named Donald Trump as one of the targets in the planned assassination of American politicians but was unable to execute such a plot. The documents submitted to the court do not mention the names of potential targets of these plots and indicate that no attacks related to this case have occurred. Donald Trump, as the then-President of the United States, had approved the drone strike in January 2020 that killed Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport. The U.S. prosecutor does not link Asif Merchant to two assassination attempts against Donald Trump, the first occurring about two months ago at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and the second on Sunday, September 17, at his golf club in Florida. Asif Merchant was arrested on July 15 of this year in Texas. The Iranian representation at the United Nations stated in August that the methods described in the legal documents regarding Asif Merchant contradict Iran's policy of 'legal and judicial prosecution of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani.'