Justice Dept charges alleged Iranian operative in plot to assassinate Bolton

Source: Politico | August 10, 2022 | Matt Berg

Justice Department charges alleged Iranian operative in plot to assassinate Bolton

Shahram Poursafi allegedly conspired between October 2021 and April of this year to kill Bolton according to a criminal complaint released by the Department of Justice.

The Justice Department on Wednesday announced charges against an alleged Iranian operative accused of plotting to kill former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton.

Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, allegedly conspired between October of 2021 and April of this year to kill Bolton according to a criminal complaint released by the Department of Justice.

“I wish to thank the Justice Dept for initiating the criminal proceeding unsealed today; the FBI for its diligence in discovering and tracking the Iranian regime’s criminal threat to American citizens; and the Secret Service for providing protection against Tehran’s efforts,” Bolton said in a statement.

Poursafi, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been charged with the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire and providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot. If convicted, Poursafi faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Beginning in October, Poursafi allegedly attempted to arrange the murder “likely in retaliation” for the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. in Jan. 202o, officials said.

Working on behalf of the IRGC, Poursafi attempted to pay people in the United States $300,000 in cryptocurrency to murder Bolton in Washington, D.C., or Maryland. Poursafi also offered $1 million for an “additional job.”

On Oct. 22, Poursafi allegedly asked a U.S. resident he met online to take photographs of Bolton, claiming they were for a book he was writing, officials said. Instead, the person said they would introduce Poursafi, for $5,000 to $10,000, to an associate who would do the job.

Poursafi allegedly contacted the associate via an encrypted messaging app in early November. In its charging documents, the Justice Department said he offered the person money to “eliminate” the former national security adviser and that a few days later, the associate asked Poursafi for help locating Bolton. The Iranian national provided Bolton’s work address, the department said.

It would not matter how the murder was carried out, Poursafi allegedly told the associate. But the “group” he was working for would require video evidence that it happened, according to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department also alleged that in January, Poursafi said he was facing pressure from his group to complete the assassination plot and expressed regret that the murder wouldn’t be conducted by the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing.

The plot still had not panned out by February, and the Iranian national was becoming increasingly frustrated, the department alleged. Someone had checked the area around Bolton’s personal residence and believed there was no security presence, DOJ said Poursafi told the associate, who should now be able to “finish the job.”

In March, Poursafi allegedly offered another assassination job in the United States and told the associate to keep Bolton “in the back of your mind.” If the new plan was carried out successfully, the associate would be able to join the group and again attempt Bolton’s murder, according to the DOJ.

“This is an especially appalling example of the government of Iran perpetrating egregious acts of transnational violence,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division in a video statement.

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