WASHINGTON D.C. - The Justice Department has charged Shahram Poursafi, with plotting to murder Former Trump Administration National Security Advisor John Bolton, as well as former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, in retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, for a price of $300,000.
Poursafi, who has been identified as an agent of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is not in the United States but is wanted by the FBI.
The Iranian agent has been seeking an assassin to murder Bolton for the targeted airstrike of General Soleimani, Commander of the elite Quds Force - Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which happened while Soleimani was en route from the international airport in Baghdad in January 2020.
Following the airstrike in 2020, Bolton made a tweet where he expressed joy and hopes that "this is the first step to regime change in Tehran."
According to an affidavit that was unsealed on August 10th, stated Poursafi was acting on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard when looking to have Bolton assassinated, stating Stars and Stripes.
The plot has been traced by the Justice Department, back to 2021, when Poursafi connected to someone, on social media, who was living in the U.S. and asked that person to take photographs of Bolton for a book that Poursafi was in the process of writing.
This person in turn directed Poursafi to a person affiliated with the FBI as an undercover source. After befriending Poursafi, Poursafi explained what he wanted to be done to Bolton, and offered the sum of $300,000 to have him eliminated, per the affidavit.
Nasser Kanaani, Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman, stated that this was a politically loaded accusation and baseless claims of 'Iranophobia', According to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
A source also reportedly told Axios that the Department of Justice "has confirmed directly to Secretary Pompeo that he is one of the individuals who has been targeted by those who are [charged] in the announced Department of Justice [documents]".
Poursafi, who has been identified as an agent of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, is not in the United States but is wanted by the FBI.
The Iranian agent has been seeking an assassin to murder Bolton for the targeted airstrike of General Soleimani, Commander of the elite Quds Force - Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which happened while Soleimani was en route from the international airport in Baghdad in January 2020.
Following the airstrike in 2020, Bolton made a tweet where he expressed joy and hopes that "this is the first step to regime change in Tehran."
According to an affidavit that was unsealed on August 10th, stated Poursafi was acting on behalf of the Revolutionary Guard when looking to have Bolton assassinated, stating Stars and Stripes.
The plot has been traced by the Justice Department, back to 2021, when Poursafi connected to someone, on social media, who was living in the U.S. and asked that person to take photographs of Bolton for a book that Poursafi was in the process of writing.
This person in turn directed Poursafi to a person affiliated with the FBI as an undercover source. After befriending Poursafi, Poursafi explained what he wanted to be done to Bolton, and offered the sum of $300,000 to have him eliminated, per the affidavit.
Nasser Kanaani, Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman, stated that this was a politically loaded accusation and baseless claims of 'Iranophobia', According to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
A source also reportedly told Axios that the Department of Justice "has confirmed directly to Secretary Pompeo that he is one of the individuals who has been targeted by those who are [charged] in the announced Department of Justice [documents]".
Sources
Stars & Stripes | Islamic Republic News Agency | Reuters
Stars & Stripes | Islamic Republic News Agency | Reuters
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