TJustice Department Wednesday indicts members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in connection with plot to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton announced that it did.
Shahram Pursafi, 45, is accused of orchestrating his $300,000 hired murder plot against Bolton in Washington or Maryland. Poursafi, who also goes by the alias Mehdi Rezayi, is on the run abroad according to the Department of Justice
If found and convicted, Poursafi 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for using an interstate commerce facility to carry out an assassination plot; The maximum penalty is 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
"The Department of Justice has a solemn duty to protect its citizens from hostile governments that seek to harm or kill them," said Matthew, Assistant Attorney General, who heads the Department of National Security. Olsen said. "This is not the first time that Iran has uncovered an Iranian conspiracy aimed at exacting retaliation against individuals on the US mainland, and we will continue to work tirelessly to expose and thwart all of these efforts."
Justice Department officials say Pour Safikilled Qasem Soleimani, the top Iranian military commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Baghdadin a deadly US drone strike. He claims he tried to kill Bolton in retaliation. On 3 January 2020Soleimani, who reported directly to IRGC Major General and Supreme Theocratic Ruler of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the building, organizing andInsurgency escalates in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, which it helped fund and deploy. At the time of Soleimani's death, Khamenei promised revenge. "Criminals who take the blood of General Soleimani and other victims of the attack await severe vengeance," he said on the day of the strike.
At that time, Bolton was no longer Donald Was not President Trump's National Security Advisor - he left that post three months ago citing policy inconsistenciesto force Iran to curb its missile programs and to force Tehran to take control of the entire Middle East. A campaign aimed at ending support for the proxy forces of
Bolton, who has worked for every Republican president since Reagan, is a lifelong hawk who has advocated military action against Iran for years. During his 17 months in the Trump administration, he has made clear his opinion that diplomacy with Tehran is a waste of time and has repeatedly criticized the country's leaders. He reiterated these views in a statement Wednesday after the Justice Department revealed the charges against Pour Safi. The rulers of the United States are liars, terrorists and enemies of the United States,"Bolton said. Their commitment is worthless. And their global threat is growing.
Assassination Plot
According to Court Documents, the assassination plot began on his October 22, 2021. Only as 'personal A' to take pictures of Bolton.
Poursafi is said to have claimed that he needed the photographs for the book he was writing. Person A instead offered to introduce Poursafi to another person where he would take pictures between $5,000 and $10,000. Individual A introduced her Poursafi to a "confidential source" or informant and initiated the conversation via an encrypted messaging application, court documents say.
The U.S. government alleges that in November 2021, Pursafi provided his $250,000 to an informant to hire someone to "eliminate" Bolton. The amount was later negotiated with Pursafi up to $300,000, with additional "work" said to pay $1 million for it.
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According to court documents, Puru Safi instructed informants to open virtual currency accounts to facilitate payments, but before the payments were approved said the murder had to be carried out. Pursafi is also said to have made it clear that his "group" would be mad if the assassination attempt was not made. The Justice Department said a search of Pursafi's "online account" found a photo of him wearing a military uniform with an IRGC patch.
On November 14, 2021, Pulsafi allegedly provided an informant with Bolton's work address in Washington. Five days later, Poursafi told an informant that it didn't matter how Bolton was killed, but that his "group" needed video footage to confirm Bolton's death. He allegedly asked an informant to talk about the murder plot in the code using the terms construction and architecture. The Justice Department said Pulsafi had only asked his informant to "build the building" and said it was up to the informant how to build it.
Poursafi appeared to be leading the conspiracy from the Iranian capital. “On November 25, 2021, Pursafi took a screenshot of a map application showing a street view of the former national security adviser's office, according to a search of one of Pursafi's online accounts. One screen. The shot showed the address to be "10,162 km away." This is the approximate distance between Washington, D.C. and Tehran, Iran," the Department of Justice said.
On December 22, 2021, Pursafi sent the informant a photo of two plastic bags. Two plastic bags were filled with piles of money, and beneath them was a handwritten note with the date and name of the informant. A week later, Pursafi told an informant when the murder would take place, according to the Justice Department, saying his "group" wanted it done quickly.
January 3, 2022 On the day, Pursafi is said to have told an informant that he was under pressure from "his people" to complete the murder and that any delays should be reported. Poursafi also told an informant that he reported to one of his but there was a chain of command above him, court documents say. That same day, the Justice Department said Pourusafi regretted not having been able to carry out the murder by the second anniversary of Soleimani's death.
Over the next two months, Pursafi told informants that Bolton's suspected He told them about the location and begged them to "get the job done," court documents say. On April 28, the informant told Poursafi that he would not be able to continue working unless he was paid, and Poursafi said he would transfer $100 in cryptocurrency to the informant's virtual wallet. allegedly agreed to Later in the day, the U.S. government claimed that his cryptocurrency wallet received two payments totaling $100.
Write to W.J. Hennigan at william.hennigan@time.com