USA: In New York he was looking for contract killers – one arrested

The FBI has foiled a plot to assassinate American politicians, according to the US Department of Justice. The Ministry of Justice announced on Tuesday that a trial has been initiated against a suspect with ties to Iran. The Pakistani national traveled to New York in April with the aim of hiring contract killers. According to the information, he paid two potential assassins $5,000 (about 4,200 francs) in advance, but they turned out to be undercover agents.

The 46-year-old man was arrested in July before he could leave the United States. So the plot was ruined, it was said.

It was not clear from the court records who the people may have been targeted. But the issue came to light just weeks after it was revealed that security measures around former President Donald Trump had been increased due to an unspecified threat from Iran, before it came to light on 13 July. He tried to assassinate the Republican during a campaign came to Butler, Pennsylvania.

A young gunman managed to climb to a roof near the site of the rally that day and fired several shots on the stage where Trump was speaking. The former president was injured in the ear, a bystander was killed and two others were injured. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service.

According to authorities, it was an attempted murder nothing to do with the threat from Iran. It was said that the current case involving a Pakistani citizen had nothing to do with the attack on Trump. The suspect was arrested on July 12, the day before the rally in Butler. He also ordered the men he thought were contract killers to go on strike in August or September – before which he wanted to leave the US.

US government circles have been warning for years about Iran’s desire for revenge for the assassination of General Ghassem Soleimani. The former commander of the so-called Al-Kuds Brigades was killed in a targeted American drone strike in Baghdad in 2020 on the orders of then President Trump.