The United States charged a member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary
Guard Corps on Wednesday with plotting to murder John Bolton, a
national security adviser to former President Donald Trump,
Trend reports
citing Reuters.
The Justice Department alleged that Shahram Poursafi, also known
as Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, was likely motivated to kill Bolton
in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, a commander of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in a U.S. drone
strike in January 2020.
The United States charged a member of Iran’s elite Revolutionary
Guard Corps on Wednesday with plotting to murder John Bolton, a
national security adviser to former President Donald Trump.
The Justice Department alleged that Shahram Poursafi, also known
as Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, was likely motivated to kill Bolton
in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, a commander of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in a U.S. drone
strike in January 2020.
Tehran condemned the U.S. move.
“Iran strongly warns against any action against Iranian citizens
under the pretext of these ridiculous and baseless accusations,”
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.
Washington does not believe the charges should affect talks with
Tehran on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal under which Iran curbed
its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, a U.S. official
said on condition of anonymity.
However, it was not clear how the Revolutionary Guard – a
powerful political faction in Iran which controls a business empire
as well as elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington
accuses of a global terrorist campaign – might react to the
charges.
Indirect talks between the United States and Iran wrapped up in
Vienna on Monday with European Union officials saying they had put
forward a final text to resuscitate the nuclear deal, which Trump
abandoned in 2018.
According to the criminal complaint, Poursafi asked a U.S.
resident identified only as “Individual A” to photograph Bolton,
under the guise that the photos were needed for a forthcoming book.
The U.S. resident then introduced Poursafi to a covert government
informant who could take the photographs for a price.
Investigators said the following month Poursafi contacted the
informant on an encrypted messaging application and offered the
person $250,000 to hire someone to “eliminate” Bolton – an amount
that would later be negotiated up to $300,000.
When the informant asked Poursafi to be more specific in his
request, he said he wanted “the guy” purged and provided Bolton’s
first and last name, according to a sworn statement in support of
the complaint.
He later directed the informant to open a cryptocurrency account
to facilitate the payment.
In subsequent communications, he allegedly told the informant it
did not matter how the killing was carried out, but that his
“group” would require a video as proof that the deed was done.
Multiple current and former U.S. officials have extra security
due to Iranian threats, CNN reported.
“I think it’s quite correct to say many other Americans are in
the targets of this regime,” Bolton told the network. “It tells you
what the regime is. It tells you about its character.”
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