Asif Merchant: Man convicted of planning to kill Trump - amid allegations of Iran-backed plotting on US soil

A Pakistani man has been convicted of planning to kill Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians.

Asif Merchant, 47, was accused of trying to recruit ‌people in the US in a plan targeting Mr Trump and others after Washington's killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, during his first term.

Then president Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, who ran against Mr Trump that year for the Republican presidential nomination, were also targeted in the 2024 plot.

Unfortunately the reports are lacking data, but one can assume that Asif Merchant was recruited by Rahman Makadam, the (former) head of IRGC Special Operations Unit.

From Arutz Sheva (posted here): "Israel has eliminated Rahman Makadam, head of the IRGC Special Operations Department, who was behind the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump."

Now, it is pretty amazing (I mean scandalous!) that the US media is not more interested in this trial. An Iranian man is convicted for planning to murder a number of prominent US politicians, among those the now sitting POTUS. As far as we know it was the IRGC that was behind this plan.

Also, according to Amir Tsarfati, who apparently received some news from the trial, Asif Merchant admitted that Iran recruited him to assassinate PDJT during a political rally. He was arrested prior to the Butler rally, and told the investigators that that shooting was also instigated by Iran. Whether that is true or not, we do not know, since there are no reporters interested to actually find out and report the facts about the investigation and what was actually said during the trial.

I have only been able to find short notices that Merchant was convicted in msm from the US, and some slightly longer articles from India, Asutralia, and Israel - but still lacking details. If anyone knows anything more I would be very happy to hear about it.

/SB

I found a piece on this trial by AP. It did not contain much more info than from the other articles. This is what they had to say about the Butler attempt:

Instead, he was packing for a flight to Pakistan when he was arrested on July 12, 2024, a day before an unrelated attempt on Trump’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Officials said it appeared the Butler gunman acted alone but that they had been tracking a threat on Trump’s life from Iran, a claim that the Islamic Republic called “unsubstantiated and malicious.”

Read the linked AP articles. Especially the last one is "weird". It says that the fact that one knew about a threat from Iran prompted more security at the Trump rally. (!!!)

Could it have been less? If they hadn't known about a threat from Iran would they have invited Crooks to sit in the first row in front of PDJT???

Anyway, the statement from Amir Tsarfati that Merchant had told the investigators (and the Court?) that the Butler attack was also instigated by Iran does not appear in any of the articles. Did he say it? Could he have known? Two questions where it would have been nice to have definite answers.

Man convicted in political assassination plot he tied to Iranian paramilitary

PS: Note the wording of the head-line! It was Merchant who tied the plot to the IRGC, not any other evidence according to the AP.

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