The now suspected man, Shahram Poursafi, is believed to have never set foot on American soil himself and is now wanted by the FBI.
According to prosecutors, during the fall of 2021 he must have had contact with a person in the United States.
He allegedly offered the person, who was an FBI informant, $300,000 to hire someone who could "eliminate" John Bolton - former national security adviser during Donald Trump's presidency.
Submitted information
Poursafi is said to have disclosed several information about Bolton to the informant.
Among other things, the address of his workplace, the name and contact details of a person who worked there as well as screenshots of surveillance photographs in John Bolton's office.
This is according to court documents that the AP news agency has seen.
- This was not an empty threat, says Matthew Olsen, senior director of national security affairs within the US Department of Justice.
Revenge for drone strike
The plan is believed to be revenge for the US drone strike that killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.
Soleimani was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's special forces al-Quds and the architect behind many of Iran's military operations over the past 20 years.
He was widely regarded as one of the country's most powerful men.
After the attack, Bolton, who had already left the White House post, commented on the incident on Twitter with the words: "I hope this is the first step towards regime change in Tehran."