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Terror Trial: Asif Merchant's Plot to Target U.S. Leaders

3/5/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Asif Merchant is on trial in Brooklyn on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges amid U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Iran.
He testified that he joined a plot to protect his family from the Revolutionary Guards Corps in Tehran, with hit men who were undercover FBI agents.
He said the plot involved hiring hit men.
An Iranian handler named three targets: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley.

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Story summary

Asif Merchant is on trial in Brooklyn on terrorism and murder-for-hire charges amid U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in Iran.
He testified that he joined a plot to protect his family from the Revolutionary Guards Corps in Tehran, with hit men who were undercover FBI agents.
He said the plot involved hiring hit men.
An Iranian handler named three targets: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Nikki Haley.