The Justice Department of the United States has charged a Pakistani man, who has alleged ties to the Iranian government, in connection with a foiled plot to carry out political assassinations, reported CNN on Tuesday. While official documents do not identify the potential targets, investigators reportedly believe that one of them was former United States President Donald Trump.

According to the charges filed by federal prosecutors, 46-year-old Asif Merchant travelled to New York City and worked with a hitman to carry out the assassinations in late August or early September.

He wanted to retaliate against the killing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020, according to the criminal complaint. At the time, Donald Trump was the president of the United States.

Merchant’s case had prompted the US government to increase security for Trump and other officials. The Republican leader was injured in an apparent assassination attempt on July 13 while he was addressing a rally in Pennsylvania.

Merchant was arrested in July just before he was planning to leave the United States.

Although the court documents do not identify any of the potential targets listed by Merchant, an unidentified law enforcement official clarified that the July 13 shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania has no connection with Merchant, reported the Associated Press.

The suspected assailant at Trump’s rally was killed by Secret Service agents. He was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, who is registered as a Republican voter.

According to prosecutors, Merchant travelled to New York in June to meet with men he thought he was recruiting to carry out the killings. He even paid a $5,000 advance to two persons who he believed were would-be assassins, but were actually undercover law enforcement officers, federal officials said, reported AP.

In April, Merchant contacted a person to help assist with the alleged assassination plot, reported Reuters. However, the person reported his activities to law enforcement and became a confidential informant, according to the complaint.

According to the informant, Merchant’s plans also included stealing documents from one target and organising protests in the United States, prosecutors allege.