NEW: Man Claims Iran Forced Him To Plot Trump Assassination

A Pakistani businessman accused of trying to hire hit men to assassinate political figures — including President Donald Trump — told a New York jury Wednesday that Iran forced him into the scheme.

Asif Merchant, 47, testified that Trump was not the only alleged target of the 2024 plot. According to Merchant, the list also included then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate and ex-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Merchant claimed he participated only after Iran’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened his family.

“My family was under threat, and I had to do this,” Merchant testified through an Urdu interpreter. “I was not wanting to do this so willingly.”

Merchant told jurors he expected to be arrested before any attack could occur. He said he planned to cooperate with U.S. authorities and hoped doing so would help him secure a green card.

Federal prosecutors indicted Merchant in July 2024 after authorities recorded him outlining a murder plot on a napkin during a meeting with a man who turned out to be an informant. Investigators say Merchant also attempted to hire two hit men for $5,000 — but the supposed assassins were undercover FBI agents.

ORIGINAL REPORTING: Another Trump Assassination Plot THWARTED

Authorities arrested Merchant while he was attempting to leave the United States, before any concrete steps toward carrying out a killing were taken. At the time, officials said the alleged operation appeared tied to Iran.

Asif Merchant (DOJ)

The Iranian government has denied any role in plotting to assassinate Trump or other American officials.

Merchant testified that the man he described as his handler initially instructed him to recruit U.S. residents willing to assist Iran. He said the assignment later escalated to finding someone with criminal connections who could organize protests, commit theft, launder money and potentially arrange a killing.

“He did not tell me exactly who it is, but he told me — he named three people: Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Nikki Haley,” he said.

Prosecutors argued that Merchant continued pursuing the plan even after U.S. immigration officials stopped him at Houston’s airport in April 2024, searched his belongings and questioned him about his travel to Iran.

According to prosecutors, Merchant later researched Trump rally locations, drafted plans for a shooting at a political event, contacted individuals he believed were hit men and collected $5,000 from a cousin as a “token of appreciation.”

MORE ON ASIF MERCHANT: Another Trump Assassination Plot THWARTED

Merchant testified he kept his alleged Revolutionary Guard contact informed by sending updates concealed inside a book that was shipped to Iran through intermediaries. He now claims the updates were fabricated.

He told jurors he felt he had “no other option” but to cooperate with the handler because the man suggested he knew where Merchant’s relatives in Iran lived.

Prosecutors pushed back on that claim in a court filing this week, noting that Merchant never contacted law enforcement before his arrest and failed to mention the alleged threats during FBI interviews.

If convicted, Merchant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The case unfolds amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran, following a U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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