Iran wants revenge for the killing of a general. According to FBI investigations, Donald Trump should die for this.
Law enforcement officials in the US say they have foiled a plot to assassinate US politicians, allegedly directed by Iran. A Pakistani man has been arrested in connection with the assassination plans, the Justice Department in Washington announced on Tuesday. According to US media reports, former President Donald Trump was one of the possible targets of the attack plans. However, the authorities see no connection with the assassination attempt on July 13, in which a gunman narrowly missed Trump.
According to documents filed in court, the arrested 46-year-old Pakistani national Asif Merchant had been in Iran before entering the United States in April to advance the assassination plans. The man was reportedly arrested on July 12 as he was trying to leave the United States.
The aim of the plot was to take revenge for the killing of the commander of the Al-Quds Brigades, Kassem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. The attack was ordered by then-President Trump.
In its official statement, the Justice Department did not provide any information about the potential targets of the plot. However, the US broadcaster CNN quoted an unnamed US government official as saying that FBI investigators believe that Trump and other current and former government officials were among the potential targets.
FBI chief Christopher Wray said the arrested 46-year-old had “close ties” to Iran. According to FBI information, the man had wanted to hire several contract killers in the United States. In reality, however, these were undercover agents. The recruitment of contract killers is a method that comes “straight from the Iranian playbook,” explained Wray.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said shortly afterwards that her government was in contact with US authorities about the case.
According to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, there is no evidence linking the 46-year-old to the attempted assassination of Trump during a campaign rally in the town of Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. The Republican presidential candidate narrowly escaped death when he was hit in the right ear by a bullet from a semi-automatic rifle.
