US uncovers Iran ‘plot’ to kill ex-White House adviser John Bolton
- The Justice Department has charged Revolutionary Guard member Shahram Poursafi, accusing him of offering an individual US$300,000 to kill the official
- The plan is likely to have been set in retaliation for the US killing of top Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020
The US Justice Department said on Wednesday it had uncovered an Iranian plot to kill former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton, and announced charges against a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Justice Department said 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, had offered to pay an individual in the United States US$300,000 to kill Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations.
The Justice Department said that plan was likely to have been set in retaliation for the US killing of top Guard Commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in January 2020.
The allegation came as Iran weighs a proposed agreement in Vienna talks to revive the 2015 agreement that aims to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.
For months Tehran has held up the deal, demanding that the United States remove its official designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a sponsor of terrorism.