US justice announced the indictment of a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards accused of conspiracy to assassinate the former national security adviser of the United States, John Bolton.
In a statement, the US Department of Justice said Iranian national Shahram Poursafi, alias Mehdi Rezayi, 45, had been charged in absentia with offering $300,000 to individuals in the United States to kill Bolton. , in retaliation for the death of the leader of the Revolutionary Guards Qassem Soleimani, eliminated in January 2020 in an American strike.
Bolton, who was national security adviser during the Trump administration, had also served as US ambassador to the UN. He has for decades been a fierce critic of the Iranian regime, which threatened retaliation against him and other senior US officials following the January 2020 assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
The former adviser was instrumental in former President Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran and his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.
“Poursafi allegedly attempted to pay individuals in the United States $300,000 to assassinate Bolton in Washington, DC or Maryland,” reports the Axios news site.
The alleged assassination plots against former top US officials have prompted the US government to tighten personal security measures for Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Iranian envoy Brian Hook.