Pakistani citizen Asif Merchant pleads not guilty in alleged plan to kill US official

New York (AFP): A Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran pleaded not guilty Monday to plotting to assassinate a US official in retaliation for the American military killing of Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Asif Raza Merchant, 46, allegedly sought to hire a hitman to assassinate a politician or a government official in the United States, the Justice Department and prosecutors said in a statement.

A court document showed that Merchant pleaded not guilty to all counts, with a next hearing scheduled for November 6, 2024.

Soleimani, the head of Iran's foreign military operations, was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Iranian officials have repeatedly vowed to avenge his killing.

"As these terrorism and murder for hire charges against Asif Merchant demonstrate, we will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran's lethal plotting against Americans," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said previously.

The intended victim was not identified but the Garland has previously said no evidence has emerged to link Merchant with the July 13 assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has said the Pakistani national had "close ties to Iran" and that the alleged murder-for-hire plot was "straight out of the Iranian playbook."

Another FBI official said the assassins Merchant allegedly tried to hire were in fact undercover FBI agents.

"After spending time in Iran, Merchant arrived in the United States from Pakistan and contacted a person he believed could assist him with the scheme to kill a politician or government official," the Justice Department said in a statement.

"That person reported Merchant's conduct to law enforcement and became a confidential source."

Merchant was arrested on July 12 as he planned to leave the country.

Iran's mission to the United Nations said in August it had "not received any report on this from the American government."

"But it is clear that this method is contrary to the Iranian government's policy of pursuing Soleimani's killer," the mission said in a statement carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency.