A Pakistani businessman, Asif Merchant, told a U.S. jury on Wednesday that he only agreed to a plot to kill Donald Trump because he feared for his family’s lives.
During his trial in New York, Merchant claimed that Iranian agents pressured him into the scheme by threatening his relatives living in Tehran.
Merchant testified that he was introduced to a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who pressured him to recruit hitmen in the United States.
While no single target was chosen, Merchant admitted that the names of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley were discussed as potential targets for the 2024 plot.
Merchant’s legal team argues he was a victim of "coercion," claiming he never intended for the plan to succeed and expected to be caught by the FBI.
Prosecutors believe the plot was a revenge mission for the 2020 killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
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