The United States announced on Tuesday, August 6, that it had foiled the assassination on its soil of government officials fomented by a Pakistani man they believe to be linked to Iran, to avenge the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020 in a US strike in Iraq.
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Pakistani national with ties to Iran, Asif Merchant, was arrested in UNITED STATES and is being prosecuted for the project of “ murder by hired killers ” announced Merrick Garland, alongside FBI Director Christopher Wray and Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. Arrested on July 12 by FBI agents posing as hit men and then taken into custody, ” Merchant, working for others overseas, is suspected of planning the murder of United States government officials on American soil ” accused prosecutor Peace. Without identifying the personalities targeted, the Minister of Justice dismissed “ any link ” between the accused and the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on July 13, following rumors of an Iranian plot.
The 46-year-old Pakistani was arrested just before leaving the United States and is considered by Washington to be “ closely linked to Iran ” to have a wife and children in Tehran. He has another family in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistani Foreign Affairs announced that it was in contact with Washington and “ wait for more details ” especially on “ the background of the individual in question “.
” These threats are expected to continue »
FBI Director Christopher Wary called the use of hit men “a is straight from Iranian methods “. ” For years, the Justice Department has worked tirelessly to counter Iran’s attempts to retaliate against U.S. officials for the assassination of Iranian general Soleimani. ” Minister Merrick Garland said in a statement. The Justice Department has brought numerous cases against individuals acting on behalf of the Iranian government to kill Americans in the United States. “, recalled Minister Garland. These threats are likely to continue and this case is not the last. ” he warned.
Iran is America’s bête noire. Their diplomatic relations have been broken since 1980. Just two years ago, Tehran had described as ” ridiculous ” charges by the US justice system that a member of the Revolutionary Guards plotted to kill John Bolton when he was national security adviser to then-President Donald Trump.
Under President Trump, on January 3, 2020, General Soleimaniwho was the architect of Iran’s Middle East strategy and the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force, was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad, Iraq.