'No other option': Pakistani terrorist, accused of plotting to kill Trump and Biden, claims Iran hired him

A Pakistani man who was charged with plotting to kill American politicians has claimed that Iranian spies recruited him to kill US President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden. 47-year-old Asif Merchant made the revelation in a bombshell testimony on Wednesday.

During the trial, the accused terrorist, Asif Merchant, claimed that his family was threatened and he was forced into the plot to save his loved ones, The New York Times reported. It is pertinent to note that the US Justice Department accused Merchant of trying to recruit people in the United States in the plan targeting Trump and other American politicians.

Merchant was allegedly plotting to avenge Washington's killing of the ​Corps' top commander, Qassem Soleimani. "I was not wanting to do this so willingly," the New York ​Times quoted Merchant as telling a court during his trial for terrorism and ​murder-for-hire charges, adding that he participated to protect his family in Tehran.

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However, the prosecutors rejected Merchant's claim, citing a "lack of evidentiary support for a true duress or coercion," according to a ​letter sent on Tuesday to the judge in the case dating from ​2024.

What Merchant told the court

According to the American news outlet, Merchant said that he had never been ordered to kill a specific ‌person ⁠, but that his Iranian handler named three people in the course of conversations in the Iranian capital.

In addition to Trump, the list included Joe Biden, the president at that time and Nikki Haley, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for ​the 2024 presidential ​election. Meanwhile, both the Merchant's lawyer and the White House are yet to comment on the matter.

It is important to note that the trial started last ​week, days before Trump ordered strikes on Iran carried out ​with Israel ⁠that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top officials in the Middle Eastern nation. Trump cited an alleged Iranian plot when he spoke to ABC News on ⁠Sunday about ​a joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Khamenei, ​saying, "I got him before he got me." However, Tehran has denied accusations that it targeted Trump and other American officials.