A Pakistani national with ties to Iran was federally charged in New York for a murder-for-hire plan targeting US government officials, according to a Tuesday announcement from the US Department of Justice.

The accused, Asif Merchant, contacted a confidential source under the pretense of selling clothing in the US, later paying the source $5,000 to hire hitmen who were actually undercover FBI agents. The agents were able to disrupt the murder-for-hire plan before any damage was done.

According to the indictment, Merchant’s plot involved, “(1) stealing documents or USB drives from a target’s home; (2) planning a protest; and (3) killing a politician or government official.”

Merchant stated to the confidential source that “People who will be targeted are the ones who are hurting Pakistan and the world, [the] Muslim world. These are not normal people.” He did not explicitly name any government officials to target.

Merchant has ties to Iran, where he has a wife and kids, and Pakistan, where he also has a wife and kids. Merchant planned to leave the US before the assassination attempt was to begin but was arrested before he could leave the country.

The assassination plot follows the attempt on former US president Donald Trump‘s life at a Pennsylvania rally. The shooter, Matthew Crooks, had no connection to Iran. However, Secret Service presence was increased at the July 13 rally, following a threat made to Donald Trump’s life. This threat was made in response to Trump’s 2020 order to kill Qassem Soleimani of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.

“The Justice Department will spare no resource to disrupt and hold accountable those who would seek to carry out Iran’s lethal plotting against American citizens and will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America’s national security,” stated US Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.