The Iranian operative allegedly wanted to murder Trump’s ex-advisor, John Bolton, over the assassination of top commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The Department of Justice filed criminal charges against an Iranian agent on Wednesday, confirming earlier reports that John Bolton’s safety had been a concern.
The Iranian agent is accused of planning to kill the ex-U.S. national security adviser.
According to the Justice Department, Shahram Poursafi, 45, proposed to pay a person in the US 300,000 dollars to assassinate Bolton, the former representative of the UN.
The accusations state that Poursafi is a part of the elite Quds Force of the Guard, an army division commanded by Iran’s supreme mullahs.
The assassination was allegedly planned because the US killed senior Guard commander Qasem Soleimani in Iraq in January 2020.
Bolton commended the Justice Department and FBI for their assistance in building the case.
”While much cannot be said publicly right now, one point is indisputable: Iran’s rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the United States,” said Bolton.
The accusations were regarded as unfounded and motivated by politics by Iran.
Bolton was Trump’s third national security adviser from August 2018 until his dismissal in September 2019. He was the motivating factor behind the Trump administration’s drive to exert “maximum pressure” on Iran and the choice to leave the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.
The accusation was made as Iran considered a plan to resurrect the 2015 pact intended to stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. In 2018, Trump retracted from the agreement.
According to US prosecution documents, Poursafi contacted an anonymous person in the US in October. He intended to purchase photos of Bolton while employed in Iran.
The Iranian was then handed on to a different source, to whom Poursafi subsequently made a $300,000 hit on Bolton.
Additionally, he floated the idea of a second target, which would net the purported assassin $1 million.
The target remains unnamed in the court documents, but it is likely to be Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state and CIA director.
If found guilty, Poursafi could spend up to 25 years in jail; however, the Justice Department highlighted that he is still at large abroad and that there is no extradition arrangement between the United States and Iran.
