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A Pakistani man accused of plotting to kill U.S. politicians, including President Donald Trump, told a court on Wednesday that he was pressured by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to carry out the alleged scheme.
Asif Raza Merchant, 47, was charged in September 2024 with attempting to hire a hitman to target unnamed U.S. officials.
Merchant has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Revolutionary Guards have previously been linked to plots against senior U.S. figures, including retaliation against Trump following the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
During his trial, Merchant said he felt forced into the plan to protect his family in Tehran.
He added that he believed he would be apprehended before any harm came to anyone, according to multiple reports.
Merchant testified that he was not given specific instructions to target any one person, though an Iranian contact reportedly mentioned Trump, former President Joe Biden, and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley.
“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” Merchant said in court through an interpreter.
“I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”
Merchant’s trial comes as the US and Israel carry out attacks on Iran, which have killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
U.S. officials have previously noted Merchant’s alleged “close ties to Iran”, calling the plot as “straight out of the Iranian regime’s playbook.”
Merchant said he began contact with a member of the Revolutionary Guards around 2022, when he was asked to work with the Iranian government.
He later received instructions that included organising protests, stealing documents, laundering money, and potentially arranging a killing.
Merchant told the court he agreed to participate because he feared for the safety of his wife and adopted daughter in Iran.
He was arrested after attempting to hire what he thought were hitmen, who were in fact undercover FBI agents.
