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Pakistani Convicted of Plotting to Kill Trump over Death of Iran Commander

FILE PHOTO: Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran, appears on charges in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, in a courtroom in New York, US, September 16, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran, appears on charges in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, in a courtroom in New York, US, September 16, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo
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Pakistani Convicted of Plotting to Kill Trump over Death of Iran Commander

FILE PHOTO: Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran, appears on charges in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, in a courtroom in New York, US, September 16, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Asif Merchant, a Pakistani man with alleged ties to Iran, appears on charges in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US politician or government officials, in a courtroom in New York, US, September 16, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo

A Pakistani ‌man was convicted on Friday of planning to kill President Donald Trump and other prominent US politicians two years ago at the behest of Iran, the Department of Justice said.

Asif Merchant was accused of trying to recruit people in the US in a plan targeting Trump and others in retaliation for Washington's killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, when Trump was in his first term.

Targets in the 2024 plot also included then-President Joe Biden and Nikki Haley, who ran against Trump ‌that year for ‌the Republican presidential nomination, federal prosecutors said.

Merchant ‌was ⁠convicted of "murder for ⁠hire and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries," directed by the Iranian authorities, the DOJ said in a statement.

The trial in the New York City borough of Brooklyn started last week, days before Trump ordered an assault on Iran, carried out with Israel, that has expanded into the region's biggest ⁠war in years.

Merchant admitted to joining the plot ‌with Iran's elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards ‌Corps but testified he did so unwillingly, to protect his family ‌in Tehran.

Merchant said he was never ordered to kill ‌a specific person but that his Iranian handler named three people in the course of conversations in the Iranian capital.

Law enforcement thwarted the plan before any attack occurred. A person Merchant contacted in April 2024 ‌to help with the plot reported his activities and became a confidential informant, the DOJ said. ⁠Merchant was ⁠arrested and pleaded not guilty that year.

The Revolutionary Guards have a central role in Iran, with a combination of military and economic power and an intelligence network. Tehran has denied accusations that it targeted Trump or other US officials.

US and Israeli attacks since Saturday have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and wounded thousands, according to Iran's UN ambassador. Many top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have been killed.

The US military has said six of its service members were killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait, while Israeli tallies show at least 10 civilians have been killed across Israel.

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World

WFP: Expanding Conflict Drives Record Hunger in Northern Nigeria

A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
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WFP: Expanding Conflict Drives Record Hunger in Northern Nigeria

A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)
A soldier patrols outside burned homes, days after an attack in the village of Woro, Nigeria, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Pelumi Salako)

Hunger across Nigeria's conflict-hit north is at levels not seen in a decade as violence spreads and aid shrinks, the UN's World Food Program warned Thursday, with more than three million people "acutely food insecure".

The country has been battling an extremist insurgency centered in the northeast since 2009, with a resurgence in violence since 2025.

Extremists have also been expanding into the northwest, which is already facing a separate, overlapping crisis from armed "bandit" gangs.

"What concerns us most is how this crisis is expanding," WFP regional director for west and central Africa, Kinday Samba, said in a statement, noting the spread of violence "across a much wider area and forcing people from farmland, driving displacement and restricting humanitarian access".

Aid cuts under US President Donald Trump and other western countries have hit some of Nigeria's poorest households in recent years.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund reported last month that poverty has risen under President Bola Tinubu, who has embarked on a raft of economic reforms supported by economists but which have also driven punishing inflation.

As conflict in the country's troubled north has expanded, so has the number of areas too dangerous for WFP to operate in, it said.

"The number of inaccessible locations has doubled: a further 15 areas are now considered partially inaccessible for WFP's frontline staff," it said,

Government control is scanty outside urban centers, leaving swathes of rural areas prone to attacks from armed groups.

More than 17 million people across northern Nigeria "are experiencing crisis, emergency, or catastrophic levels of hunger", WFP said.

"Nigeria's food security crisis is worsening faster than previously anticipated," it said. "Conflict is driving hunger in some northern states, particularly the northeast, to levels not seen in almost a decade".

In Borno state, the epicenter of the militants conflict, more than three million people are "acutely food insecure", including 10,000 people facing "catastrophic hunger".

But WFP's footprint is shrinking amid a donor shortfall, it said.

At the height of 2025 "lean season", when the previous year's foodstocks are running low but the current year's crops aren't ready for harvest, the agency delivered food and nutrition aid to 1.3 million people.

Amid "extreme funding shortfalls", it has projected it will reach slightly over half that number this year.

World

Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
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Iran Warns Oil Tankers to Use Approved Routes in Strait of Hormuz or Face a 'Forceful Response'

Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
Two boys stand in shallow water with foam floats as cargo ships and other vessels are seen in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)

Iran’s joint military command warned Thursday that all oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz must use its approved routes or face a “forceful response,” again ratcheting up tensions over a waterway crucial for international energy supplies.

The strait, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf, has emerged as one of the top issues in negotiations to reach a permanent end to the Iran war. The statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya military command, reported by Iranian state television, comes after both US and Iranian diplomats met with mediators on Wednesday in Qatar, The Associated Press said.

It wasn’t immediately clear what sparked the threat from Iran. However, the US military's Central Command had put out a statement about having a meeting with officials from Mideast nations in Bahrain that said “leaders underscored their shared commitment to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.”

“Any failure to comply, deviation from the designated route, or disregard for the navigation protocols of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with an immediate and forceful response from the armed forces, endangering the security of the violating vessels,” the Iranian statement said.

It also said the continued presence of US fighter jets over the strait “causes insecurity in this waterway and threatens regional security.”

“Any attempt by the United States to interfere in security matters or any disruptive action in the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a threat to Iran’s national sovereignty and will be met with a rapid and decisive reaction,” the Iranian warning added.

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass without paying charges for 60 days. But Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

An effort by Oman and a United Nations agency to launch a new route near Oman’s shore sparked attacks across the Mideast last weekend, highlighting the tensions.

World

Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
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Iran Warns US against Interference in Strait of Hormuz

Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)
Cargo vessel anchored in the Strait of Hormuz (AP)

Iran said on Thursday that any US interference in the Strait of Hormuz would trigger a "decisive and ‌rapid" ‌response, adding ‌that ⁠the continued presence of US ⁠air assets across the waterway endangered regional security, state media ⁠reported.

Khatam al-Anbiya ‌Central ‌Headquarters, which coordinates Iran's ‌armed forces ‌operations, said all tanker and commercial vessels must follow ‌routes designated by Tehran for ⁠safe ⁠passage through the strait, adding that deviations or failure to comply with navigation protocols would face an immediate response.