Iranian military operative charged in plot to murder former national security adviser John Bolton

Washington — A member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was charged with plotting the murder of former national security adviser John Bolton, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

An indictment against Shahram Poursafi, of Tehran, alleges that beginning in October 2021, he attempted to arrange Bolton's murder, likely in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC's elite Quds Force who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.

Working on behalf of the Quds Force, Poursafi attempted to pay $300,000 to people in the U.S. for the murder, the Justice Department said. The department said there is no evidence that Poursafi has ever been to the U.S.