A federal jury in Brooklyn needed less than two hours to find Asif Raza Merchant guilty, the same man who had already told the court under oath that he came to the United States on behalf of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard to arrange the killing of a sitting American president.
The verdict, delivered on March 6, 2026, came as US airstrikes on Tehran were still active. The US Department of Justice press release confirmed Merchant was convicted on two counts, murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
