An Iranian national is charged in a plot to kill John Bolton

A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was charged in a plot to murder former national security adviser John Bolton, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Shahram Poursafi, 45, of Tehran, is accused of attempting to arrange Bolton’s assassination likely in retaliation for the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. Poursafi, who also goes by Mehdi Rezayi, attempted to pay $300,000 to individuals in the United States to carry out the killing in Washington or Maryland, the Justice Department said.

“The Justice Department has the solemn duty to defend our citizens from hostile governments who seek to hurt or kill them,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “This is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil and we will work tirel