US offers $20m bounty for Iranian accused of plans to kill Trump aide
The U.S. is offering a reward of $20 million (£15 million) for information that leads to the arrest of an Iranian man accused of conspiring to assassinate John Bolton, former National Security Advisor to Donald Trump.
Shahram Poursafi, affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), allegedly attempted to hire individuals in the U.S. to kill Bolton, a prominent critic of Iran, for $300,000.
This reward announcement coincides with Trump stating he was informed by U.S. intelligence about a purported Iranian plot against him.
Iran has denied involvement in any assassination plans targeting Trump officials or interfering in U.S. affairs.
According to officials, from October 2021 to April 2022, Poursafi sought to recruit “criminal elements within the United States” to carry out the murder of Bolton in Washington, D.C., or Maryland.
One of the potential hitmen he approached was a confidential source for U.S. investigators, as noted by the State Department. Poursafi allegedly indicated to this person that following the assassination of Bolton, “he would have a second assassination job for him.”
His alleged motivation was retaliation against the US for its assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, which was ordered by Trump when he was in the White House, according to officials.
The US Department of Justice charged Mr Poursafi with the alleged murder plot in 2022 . He remains at large, and officials say he is not believed to be in the US.
Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with NBC News this week, denied accusations that his government has attempted to kill Iranian critics abroad.
“We do not assassinate people, but the fact of the matter is – they assassinated a revered Iranian general,” he said.
Mr Bolton, speaking to NBC on Thursday, said that the US should be “more proactive” about the Iranian threats.
“When they come after us, government officials, current and former, for doing their job, really, that’s an attack on the United States government itself,” said Mr Bolton.
“I don’t think staying in a passive mode about it is the best way to go. We know that this is more than idle speculation in Tehran.”
Earlier this week, the Trump campaign said that it had received a briefing from US intelligence about Iranian plots to kill Trump.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US acknowledged the briefing but declined to address any specifics.
Trump posted on the social media site X, formerly Twitter, that there are “big threats on my life by Iran.”
“Moves were already made by Iran that didn’t work out, but they will try again.”
There has been no suggestion by US investigators that Iran was involved in either of the two recent assassination attempts against Trump, at a rally in Pennsylvania and at his golf course in Florida.
Meanwhile, the FBI and US intelligence aggencies have alleged that Iranian hackers stole and attempted to distribute information about Donald Trump’s electoral campaign, hoping to “stoke discord” and undermine confidence in US institutions ahead of the November election.
