The United States Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it had charged Asif Raza Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani national, for attempting to hire a hitman and assassinate a politician or government official on US soil.

“This dangerous murder-for-hire plot exposed in today’s complaint allegedly was orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook,” Christopher Wray, FBI Director said. 

Merchant, hailing from Karachi, Pakistan who had recently visited Iran, was arrested in New York on July 12, one day before an assassination attempt on former US President, Donald Trump, during a rally in Pennsylvania, the American media claimed.

In a midnight statement, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry responded to the arrest, stating “We have seen the media reports. We are in touch with the US authorities and await further details. We have also noted the statements by US officials that this is an ongoing investigation.”

Meanwhile, the Republican chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee from Ohio, Congressman Mike Turner, while commenting on the Merchant's arrest, said, "I was previously briefed concerning the Iranian threat and the circumstances of Mr. Merchant's arrest and questioned then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on whether she had reviewed the intelligence concerning the Iranian threat. She confirmed to me that she read the intelligence and was aware of this Iranian murder-for-hire plot.”

Pakistani authorities from Karachi, Asif Merchant's hometown, have shared some key details about his extensive travel history and personal background. 

According to the officials, Merchant travelled to Iran multiple times between November 2, 2017, and April 8, 2024, using three passports. He spent time in Iran from November 2-14, 2017, and again from September 17 to October 15, 2023. After returning to Pakistan, he travelled to the US on November 21, 2023, and came back on December 17, 2023. He made additional trips to Iran on January 15 and April 1, 2024, returning on February 12 and April 8, respectively. Asif Merchant allegedly travelled to America via Turkey on April 11, 2024.

Officials also disclosed that Asif Merchant owns two houses in Karachi's Gulshan Iqbal and Jafar Tayar Society areas. He holds a master's degree in Management Systems and began his banking career in 2002. 

Records also show four Pakistan mobile numbers and one international number registered under his name. Additionally, officials found records of three vehicles and one motorcycle used by Asif Merchant in Karachi.

This is not the first time an alleged Iranian plot involving Pakistani nationals for foreign operations has been uncovered. 

In January 2024, four individuals carrying Pakistani identification papers were caught by US Navy SEALs while trying to smuggle Iranian-made missile parts to Houthis in Yemen. The operation in the Arabian Sea resulted in the deaths of two US Navy SEALs. The suspects were subsequently charged in a US federal court in February 2024.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, in a statement in May 2024, stated that Pakistan had secured consular access to its four nationals arrested by US forces in the Arabian Sea near Yemen. She added that Pakistan reaffirmed its willingness to cooperate fully with the investigation.

The US Department of Justice released an image of the Iranian-made warhead, seized in the Arabian Sea, bound for Yemen's Houthis.

In June 2023, Israeli Mossad agents claimed to have captured Youssef Shahbazi Abbasalilu, suspected of directing an Iranian plot to attack Israelis in Cyprus. 

Mossad alleged he received instructions and weapons from senior Iranian officials. In an interrogation video, the suspect admitted that he was commissioned to identify and attack Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus, working with foreign nationals including Pakistanis.

A senior Pakistani official while speaking to The Khorasan Diary on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged Iran's recruitment of Pakistani nationals for foreign operations.

“Iran's strategy of recruiting foreign nationals for foreign operations is driven by two primary objectives. Firstly, Iran believes that if its hired foreign nationals successfully carry out attacks abroad, Tehran will avoid accountability, and instead, the attacker's country of origin will face the consequences. Secondly, Iran seeks to avoid direct confrontation with the US or Israel, thus heavily relying on proxy forces to fight on its behalf, as evident in its support for proxy militias across the Middle East,” the official said.

Another source aware of the situation maintained that Pakistan's recent strong condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza by the country’s top officials may be the reason for tagging Pakistan along with Iran, the recent developments in the region after the attack on Ismail Hanya in Tehran seems to have had a preemptive effect on how the region is viewed today, in Merchant’s case, “it seems a counter-effort to club Pakistan with Iran, said the source, adding that Iran was not only recruiting from Pakistan alone but several other countries as well.

“Iran has been devoting a great deal of time and resources over foreign proxies over the years to bolster its irregular warfare capabilities, both regionally and globally,” said Lucas Webber, a researcher who primarily focuses on geopolitics and violent non-state actors and runs Militant Wire, a militancy analysis website.“As far as Trump is concerned, apart from being perceived as much more pro-Israel than Biden, his legacy of the Qasem Soleimani assassination still looms large for Iran.”