In response to questions about anti-Iran claims linking the country with a Pakistani accused of political assassinations on American soil, the Iranian Mission stated on Tuesday: We have not received any reports on this matter from the US government. However, it is evident that the modus operandi in question contradicts the Iranian government’s policy of legally prosecuting the murderer of General Soleimani.
Based on American media reports, the US Justice Department claims that a 46-year-old Pakistani national named Asif Merchant is suspected of collaborating with Iran to plot and assassinate political figures, such as former US president, Donald Trump.
The US media have allegedly reported that Merchant, sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the U.S. killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, according to a criminal complaint. Merchant, who prosecutors allege spent time in Iran before traveling to the United States from Pakistan, was charged with murder for hire in federal court in New York’s Brooklyn borough. A federal judge ordered him detained on July 17, according to court records.
The media quoted even an official who claimed that a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed that several current and former government officials across the political spectrum, including Trump were the targets of this plot.
The indictment in the case, according to the media, published on Tuesday prompted authorities to increase the security of Trump and numerous other officials.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment further. Avraham Moskowitz, a lawyer for Merchant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On July 13, while delivering a speech at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump was evacuated off the stage by security after a young man named Thomas Matthew Crooks fired at him multiple times, injuring his right ear.
Due to the devastating security failure of the US Service in protecting Trump, the director of the Secret Service has resigned in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump that unleashed an outcry about how the agency failed in its core mission to protect current and former presidents. Kimberly Cheatle, who had served as Secret Service director since August 2022, faced growing calls to resign and several investigations into how a gunman was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, Iran has, time and again, rejected attempts to implicate the country in the incident. The Foreign Ministry said it strongly rejects any involvement in the armed attack on Trump or “claims about Iran’s intention for such an action, considering such allegations to have malicious political motives and objective”.
Soon after the incident, Iran’s UN mission in a statement, also rejected reports about Iran’s role in the assassination attempt on Trump calling them “baseless and biased”.
“From the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Trump is a criminal who must be prosecuted and punished in a court of law for ordering the assassination of General Soleimani,” the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran said in a statement. “Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”
Iran’s anti-terror icon General Soleimani was assassinated in a US drone strike near Baghdad Airport upon a direct order from then-President Trump. Iran has stated it is still determined to “prosecute Trump” for his role in ordering the killing of Soleimani in 2020.