Islamabad: The Pakistani Foreign Office chose to delay its official response to the New York federal court’s overnight ruling on Wednesday, which accused a Pakistani individual of being a part of an assassination conspiracy against former US president Donald Trump.
The authorities in the Pakistani capital are in a difficult situation due to the involvement of Asif Raza Merchant, a 46-year-old Pakistani national who is thought to have close contacts with Iran, in the “murder-for-hire plot.”
Despite being inundated with inquiries about Merchant, the Foreign Office has insisted that it was communicating with US authorities to learn more about the accused’s past.
“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 the US officials that this is an ongoing investigation,” the Pakistan Foreign Office stated.
It added, “Before giving our formal response, we also need to be sure about the antecedents of the individual in question.”
On the other hand, experts think that the problem can open a can of worms and seriously damage ties between Pakistan and the United States.
Merchant is accused of being “part of a scheme to assassinate a US politician or government officials on US soil” in a “murder-for-hire” plot.
Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, said, “this dangerous murder-for-hire plot was allegedly orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties with Iran and is straight out of the Iranian playbook.”
According to what is known, Merchant is a Shia Muslim from Karachi. He is married to two women, one of whom resides in Iran with the couple’s kids and the other in Pakistan.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed yet, the merchant is said to have deep ties to Iranian security organisations, and it’s possible that he followed their instructions.
According to information about his purported role in the scheme, Merchant travelled from Pakistan to the United States in April 2024, having previously visited Iran.
Merchant contacted the individual in the US who he thought could assist him in executing the plan. He briefed his US contact about his plans to kill Trump when they met in New York in June 2024.
“Merchant told the person that the opportunity he had for the source was not a one-time opportunity and that there would be multiple chances to carry it out. Merchant then made a finger gun motion with his hand, indicating that the opportunity was related to a killing,” stated the criminal complaint in the New York federal court.
Details of the case revealed that “Merchant further stated that the intended victims would be targeted in the US and instructed his contact person to arrange meetings with individuals whom he could hire to carry out these actions.”
Interestingly, Merchant affirmed that he had received instructions from the “party” back home to finalise the plan and depart the US when his US contact asked him if he had spoken to them.
However, Asif’s contact informed US law enforcement about the scheme and afterwards became a department confidential source.
At that point, Merchant’s informant set up a rendezvous in New York with alleged hitmen who were actually undercover US law enforcement agents. Eventually, it resulted in Merchant’s arrest.
“Asif advised them all that he was looking for three services: theft of documents, arranging protests at political rallies, and killing a political person,” stated the case details.
“Merchant said that the hitmen would be given instructions on who to kill either in the last week of August or the first week of September, after he would have departed the US,” the details mentioned.
Afterwards, Merchant purportedly used an offshore source to arrange an advance payment of $5000 for the hitmen. On July 12, Merchant also intended to depart the US, but he was detained by US authorities, revealing the entire plot.
–IANS
