Wednesday, the Justice Department revealed that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was accused for allegedly planning the assassination of former national security advisor John Bolton.
Shahram Poursafi, of Tehran, is charged with attempting to organize Bolton’s murder starting in October 2021, perhaps in punishment for the January 2020 death of Qassem Soleimani, the chief of the IRGC’s special Quds Force, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Iraq.
According to the Justice Department, Poursafi sought to pay $300,000 to individuals in the United States for the murder while acting on behalf of the Quds Force. According to the agency, there is no indication that Poursafi has ever visited the United States. He remains at large internationally, and the FBI is searching for him.
Bolton, who served as former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, thanked the Justice Department for bringing charges against Poursafi, the FBI for “its diligence in discovering and tracking the Iranian regime’s criminal threat to American citizens,” and the Secret Service for providinprotection against Tehran’s efforts once again.
John Bolton, former national security advisor, talks at a public forum at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, on February 17, 2020.
In a statement to CBS News, he stated, “While much cannot be spoken publicly at this time, one issue is indisputable: Iran’s authorities are liars, terrorists, and adversaries of the United States.” “Their anti-American, radical goals have not altered; their pledges are meaningless; and their worldwide menace is rising.”
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, who leads the National Security Division of the Justice Department, stated that the department has previously uncovered Iranian plots to “exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil” and vowed that the department will “work tirelessly” to thwart these efforts.
“It is the solemn obligation of the Department of Justice to protect our people against hostile countries that want to harm or kill them,” he said in a statement.
Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor for the White House, advised Iran against targeting U.S. individuals, including current and former government employees.
“We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: the Biden Administration will not waver in protecting and defending all Americans from threats of violence and terrorism,” he added in a statement. “Should Iran target any American person, including those now serving or who have previously served, Iran would suffer serious repercussions. We will continue to use all of the government’s resources to safeguard Americans.”
In an affidavit filed in federal district court in Washington, the Justice Department outlined the history of the scheme against Bolton, starting with Soleimani’s death in January 2020 and Iranian authorities’ threats of retaliation against Trump and other key administration officials.
Poursafi, according to federal authorities, contacted an anonymous person on a social networking site in 2021 and requested that person to take photographs of Bolton in October of that year, stating they were for a book he was writing. According to court filings, the individual promised Poursafi he could connect him to a “associate” who would capture the necessary photographs and films for between $5,000 and $10,000.
After Poursafi was introduced to the source, the Iranian operative used an encrypted messaging app to inquire about hiring someone for $200,000 to “kill” an unnamed individual. Additionally, he suggested another job for $1 million, according to the Justice Department. According to court documents, Poursafi then offered $250,000 for murdering “someone” — $50,000 to the secret source for planning the murder and $200,000 to the individual who carried out the assault.
During negotiations in November 2021, Poursafi allegedly indicated that Bolton was his intended victim and offered to a confidential source that he be murdered “by automobile” while Bolton strolled alone in a park.
Mid-November 2021, the source reported to Poursafi that he talked with a person about carrying out the assault on Bolton, but the alleged attacker was unsatisfied with the monetary offer. According to court documents, the secret source also sought Poursafi for aid in discovering and targeting Bolton. After noting that his location might be obtained online, Poursafi finally revealed Bolton’s Washington office address.
According to the Justice Department, the confidential source and Poursafi communicated around November 19, 2021, and the source said that the person hired to carry out the murder was building a cryptocurrency account and requesting $300,000 in compensation for the assassination. After Poursafi communicated with “them,” thought to be the IRGC, about the counteroffer, the greater price was authorized, according to court documents.
On November 23, 2021, the source reported to Poursafi that he flew from Texas to Washington, visited Bolton’s office, and provided the Iranian agent two surveillance images. According to court documents, after describing the building and parking garage, Poursafi stated that the parking garage would be a suitable spot to murder Bolton and that it would be simple and quick.
A wanted poster by the FBI featuring photographs of Shahram Poursafi.
FBI
The FBI obtained a search warrant on Poursafi’s internet accounts and discovered screenshots of images sent by a confidential source to Poursafi, as well as screenshots of web maps displaying a street view of Bolton’s office building. The Justice Department said that a certain structure was “10,162 kilometers distant,” or about the distance between Washington and Tehran.
Prosecutors say that Poursafi and the secret source had further communications in early December 2021, during which Poursafi deferred to the source over how to murder Bolton. Poursafi instructed the source not to worry if the murder was traced to Iran, according to court documents. His “group” will handle the situation. According to authorities, he allegedly told the source to discuss the assault in terms of construction and building, and he wanted the murder to be carried out by the end of 2021.
Poursafi shared a photograph of what seemed to be two money-filled plastic bags in late December 2021, after the source said they would be returning to Texas from Washington.
Throughout the month of January, Poursafi spoke with the secret source. In early February, Poursafi threatened that if the work was not completed within two weeks, it would be sent to a new attacker. The next month, the Iranian informed the source of another murder mission in the United States and instructed them to “keep Bolton in mind,” according to the Justice Department.
Poursafi encouraged the confidential source to complete the second assault until April and threatened that if the source did not, his “organization had others prepared to complete the operation,” according to court documents.
Photos helped the FBI discover that Poursafi was a member of the IRGC and that he was working on behalf of the organization to recruit Americans to murder Bolton.
He is accused of using interstate commerce facilities to carry out a murder-for-hire and of supplying and trying to offer material assistance to a transnational murder plan. Poursafi faces up to 10 years in jail and a maximum $250,000 punishment for the first crime, and up to 15 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine for the second.
Earlier this year, the U.S. intelligence community determined that Iran would directly and indirectly harm Americans. Two persistent threat assessments sent to Congress in January 2022 highlighted a “serious and credible threat” against former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Trump administration ambassador Brian Hook, according to documents acquired by CBS News.
The non-public evaluations indicate that in 2021 and 2022, the State Department assessed that Pompeo and Hook need 24-hour diplomatic protection.