The Department of Justice on Wednesday charged an Iranian national and member of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with trying to orchestrate a murder-for-hire plot to kill former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Prosecutors alleged that 45-year-old Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, of Tehran was acting in retaliation for the January 2020 strike ordered by President Donald Trump that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, head of the IRGC’s Qods Force military branch.
Justice officials said Mr. Poursafi, who remains at large overseas, paid persons in the U.S. $300,000 to assist in the plot.
The charges marked an unusual and stunning chapter in the wake of the Soleimani strike.