"The Justice Department will not tolerate Iran's efforts to target our country's public officials and endanger our national security," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a press statement. "We will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran's lethal plotting against Americans."
According to the indictment, Merchant arrived in the U.S. in April of this year, after spending time in Iran, and met with the source in early June in New York, where he explained that he and an unidentified party "back home" had plans for causing unrest, including ongoing murders - indicated with a finger-gun gesture - and instructed the source to arrange meetings with hitmen.
Merchant then in mid-June met with the undercover officer "hitmen" and hired them to steal documents, arrange staged protests at political rallies and kill a "political person," saying that they would receive their target when Merchant had departed the country.
After receiving funds from overseas, he met them again in late June to pay a $5,000 advance fee and confirm that they were "absolutely" moving forward with the plan. He was arrested on July 12, having made travel arrangements to leave the country on that day; he faces life in prison if convicted.
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