Iranian agents charged with plotting to murder Trump security adviser John Bolton

An Iranian operative has been charged in connection with the murder of former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton.

The Justice Department said on Wednesday the plan was in retaliation for a US airstrike that killed Iran’s most powerful general and offered $300,000 (£245,000) to “kill” Trump administration officials.

Shahram Poursafi, identified by U.S. officials as a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, is wanted by the FBI in connection with a hire-murder conspiracy.

Prosecutors say the plan was carried out in a January 2020 targeted airstrike at Baghdad International Airport by Qassem Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force and mastermind of Tehran’s proxy war in the Middle East It unfolded more than a year after the death.

After the strike, Bolton, who had left his White House post at the time, tweeted: “Hopefully this is the first step in regime change in Tehran.”

In the fall of 2021, officials said Poursafi, an Iranian citizen who had never visited the U.S., offered $300,000 to someone he communicated with in the U.S. on the condition that the person was willing to hire someone to “kill” Mr. Bolton, according to the FBI . The affidavit unsealed on Wednesday.

Poursafi told the man that he was actually an FBI informant and that he wanted “that person” to be cleared or eliminated.

The affidavit said Poursafi provided the person with the address of Mr Bolton’s office, including the names and contact information of those who worked at the office, and took surveillance photos of Mr Bolton’s office.

“This is not a senseless threat,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olson, the Justice Department’s top national security official, said in a statement released by the Justice Department.

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“This is not the first time we have seen outrageous Iranian retaliation against American individuals.”

In his own statement, Mr. Bolton thanked the FBI and the Justice Department for their work on the case and the protection provided by the Secret Service.

“While not much can be said publicly right now, one thing is indisputable: Iran’s rulers are liars, terrorists and enemies of the United States,” he said.

The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Negotiators seeking to revive the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna hammered out the “final text” of the deal two days ago, and the parties are now negotiating in their capitals whether to agree to it.

The 2015 deal granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for severe restrictions on its atomic program.

Iran has accelerated its nuclear enrichment program since the United States withdrew from the deal under former President Donald Trump.

Mr Bolton has been one of the most hawkish critics of the deal, which the administration of current President Joe Biden has sought to rejoin.

“Iran’s nuclear weapons and terrorist activities are two sides of the same coin,” he said in the statement, adding that the U.S. rejoining the failed 2015 Iran nuclear deal “would be a great deal for ourselves and those closest to us.” An unparalleled self-harm. Middle East ally.”