FO in contact with US on Pakistani man charged with alleged ties to Iran

Pakistan said on Wednesday that it was in contact with the US authorities regarding the alleged involvement of a Pakistani national in connection with a foiled assassination attempt in Washington.

“We have seen the media reports. We are in touch with the US authorities and await further details. We have also noted the statements by US officials that this is an ongoing investigation,” the Foreign Office (FO) said in a press release.

The FO said that before giving Pakistan’s formal reaction “we also need to be sure of the antecedents of the individual in question”.

On Tuesday, the US Justice Department said Asif Merchant, 46, was charged with murder for hire in federal court in New York’s Brooklyn borough. A federal judge ordered him detained on July 16, according to court records, as per Reuters.

Merchant sought to recruit people in the United States to carry out the plot in retaliation for the US killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleiman in 2020, according to a criminal complaint.

“For years, the Justice Department has been working aggressively to counter Iran’s brazen and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American public officials for the killing of Iranian General Soleimani,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

FBI investigators believe that former President Donald Trump, who approved the drone strike on Soleimani, and other current and former U.S. government officials were the intended targets of the plot, CNN reported, citing a U.S. official.