
Asif Merchant, a 47‑year‑old Pakistani businessman, is on trial in Brooklyn federal court, claiming that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forced him into an alleged plot involving the assassination of US President Donald Trump and other political figures.
Merchant faces charges of terrorism and murder‑for‑hire. Prosecutors say he tried to recruit people in the United States to carry out protests, steal documents, launder money and arrange a killing. He has pleaded not guilty.