A scenario worthy of a spy movie: American justice revealed on Wednesday August 10 that a member of the Revolutionary Guards, ideological army of the Republic of Iran, had hatched a plot to assassinate John Bolton between October 2021 and April 2022. Donald Trump's former national security adviser had been one of the strongest supporters of Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

The US Department of Justice said in a statement that Shahram Poursafi aka Mehdi Rezayi, 45, was charged in his absence with offering to pay $300,000 to individuals in the United States to kill John Bolton, who was also United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

The plot, apparently intended to avenge the death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, killed in January 2020 in a US strike, was revealed to authorities by the person believed to assassinate John Bolton.

His identity has not been revealed.

The charges of the American justice come at a time when the Iranian regime is studying a compromise presented by the European Union to save the 2015 agreement on the Iranian nuclear, moribund since the withdrawal of the United States in 2018, under the impulse of Donald Trump.

He was then advised by John Bolton.

For months, Tehran has conditioned any agreement on the removal of the Revolutionary Guards from the US blacklist of terrorist organizations.

"This is not the first time we have uncovered a plot by Iran to seek revenge on American soil and we will work tirelessly to uncover and prevent each such attempt," the deputy minister of security said. Justice, Matthew Olsen.

According to the indictment, in late 2021, Shahram Poursafi came into contact with a person believed to carry out the assassination.

It was actually an informant from the US Federal Police (FBI).

For months, they exchanged messages.

A million dollars in cryptocurrency for a second target

Shahram Poursafi ordered him to open a cryptocurrency account, then gave him the business address of Donald Trump's former adviser.

He then urged him to put the plan into action before the first anniversary of Qassem Soleimani's death.

The date of January 3, 2022 passed, Shahram Poursafi continued to push the informant to kill John Bolton, promising him a contract of one million dollars if he succeeded in aiming at a second target.

Bolton had supported the withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear agreement

The FBI has published a wanted poster for Shahram Poursafi with several photos, two of which show him wearing the Revolutionary Guards uniform.

"During their exchanges, the confidential source repeatedly referred to Poursafi as being linked to the Quds Force. Poursafi never denied," noted the American justice.

If arrested, which is unlikely as he appears to be in Iran, Shahram Poursafi faces up to 25 years in prison.

National Security Advisor to Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019, John Bolton considered the 2015 nuclear agreement a "major strategic error".

He had publicly supported Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from this pact, which aims to guarantee the civilian character of Iran's nuclear program.

The indictment states that John Bolton had knowledge of the conspiracy and cooperated with investigators.

Iran still 'serious and credible' threats against Pompeo

In a statement, he called Iranian officials "liars, terrorists and enemies of the United States", calling on President Joe Biden not to back out of the Iran deal.

Current White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tweeted that Tehran faces "severe consequences" if it attacks current or past US officials.

Last March, the State Department revealed to Congress that it had to pay two million dollars a month to ensure the safety of the former head of diplomacy Mike Pompeo, in the face of "serious and credible" threats from Iran. .

Along with John Bolton, Mike Pompeo was one of the main architects of the Trump administration's policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran.

With AFP

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