PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: A federal jury convicted Asif Merchant, an operative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries.WHO WAS INVOLVED: Asif Merchant, undercover U.S. law enforcement officers, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Assistant Attorney General John […] The post Iran Agent Caught in Hitman Plot to Assassinate Trump. appeared first on The National Pulse .
PULSE POINTS WHAT HAPPENED: A federal jury convicted Asif Merchant, an operative of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of murder for hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries. WHO WAS INVOLVED: Asif Merchant, undercover U.S. law enforcement officers, Attorney General Pamela Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg. WHEN & WHERE: Merchant arrived in the U.S. in April 2024, met with undercover agents in New York in June, and was arrested in July 2024. KEY QUOTE: “This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement.” – Attorney General Pamela Bondi IMPACT:…Open
Asif Merchant’s case played out amid a broadening conflict in the Middle East. He was accused of working with the Iranian government to kill high-ranking U.S. officials.
The FBI manufactured plots to convince Trump that Iran sought to kill him, while Israel and its administration allies exploited the president’s deepest fears to keep him on the war path.
This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. “I got him before he got me,” an ebullient President Donald Trump remarked to a reporter when asked about his motives for authorizing the killing of Iran’s Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 28, 2026. With his off-the-cuff remark, Trump revealed that anxiety about his own assassination at the hands of Iranian agents influenced his decision to initiate a US-Israeli regime change war that has already resulted in American casualties, the bombings of schools and hospitals inside Iran, devastating Iranian retaliatory strikes on US military bases and embassies, and a spiraling global economic crisis. Trump’s…Open
PULSE POINTSWHAT HAPPENED: A Pakistani national was accused of plotting with Iran to kill U.S. officials as part of a broader murder-for-hire scheme.WHO WAS INVOLVED: Asif Merchant, federal prosecutors, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, and unnamed informants. President Donald J. Trump and former President Joe Biden were mentioned as targets.WHEN & WHERE: Merchant flew […] The post Iran-Backed Pakistani on Trial Over Plot to Assassinate Trump. appeared first on The National Pulse .
PULSE POINTS WHAT HAPPENED: A Pakistani national was accused of plotting with Iran to kill U.S. officials as part of a broader murder-for-hire scheme. WHO WAS INVOLVED: Asif Merchant, federal prosecutors, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents, and unnamed informants. President Donald J. Trump and former President Joe Biden were mentioned as targets. WHEN & WHERE: Merchant flew from Pakistan to the United States in an attempt to recruit hitmen, and was arrested one day before the assassination attempt against President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024 . KEY QUOTE: “This dangerous murder-for-hire plot was allegedly orchestrated by a Pakistani national with close ties to Iran and is straight out of the Iranian regime’s…Open
Testimony and evidence in Asif Merchant’s trial has so far portrayed him as a zealous yet bumbling operative who never came close to his mission, which prosecutors say was backed by Iran.