The Justice Department announced charges against Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for allegedly plotting to kill former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton.
The Justice Department is exposing Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil.
Poursafi approached a U.S. resident online and asked for pictures of Bolton, offered to pay someone $300,000 to “eliminate” Bolton, and mentioned a future job that would pay $1 million.
“While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable: Iran’s rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the United States,” Bolton said in a statement after the DOJ announcement.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tried to assassinate a former U.S. official on U.S. soil in retaliation for U.S. actions, said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. Which U.S. officials said was likely planned in retaliation for the January 2020 strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force.
“The Justice Department has the solemn duty to defend our citizens from hostile governments who seek to hurt or kill them,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a press release. “This is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil, and we will work tirelessly to expose and disrupt every one of these efforts.”
For more on this story, please consider these sources:
- US Justice Department charges Iranian with trying to assassinate John Bolton CNN
- Iranian operative charged in an alleged plot to assassinate John Bolton Fox News
- DOJ: John Bolton Was Target Of Assassination Plot By Iranian National NBC News
- Justice Dept. Charges Iranian in Plot to Kill John Bolton The New York Times
- Iranian operative charged in plot to murder John Bolton WAVY TV 10