Iranian operative charged in plot to murder John Bolton

A man has been charged in a murder-for-hire plot to kill a former U.S. national security adviser.

Shahram Poursafi is wanted by the FBI for his alleged involvement in a murder-for-hire plot.

Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force and an architect of Tehran's proxy wars in the Middle East, was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad's international airport. After the strike, the former US ambassador to the UN, who had left his White House post, said he hoped it was the beginning of regime change in Tehran.

In the fall of 2021, Poursafi, an Iranian citizen who officials say has never visited the US, offered $300,000 to someone he was communicating with in the U.S. The person was told by Poursafi that he wanted the person to be removed.

According to the affidavit, Poursafi gave the person with the address and contact information for someone who worked in the office, and took pictures of the office.

Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department's top national security official, said in a statement that this was not an "innocent threat". This isn't the first time we've found brazen acts by Iran to exact revenge against people in the US.

The FBI and Justice Department, as well as the Secret Service, were thanked in his own statement.

He said that Iran's rulers are liars, terrorists, and enemies of the US.

Iran's mission to the UN did not reply immediately.

The unsealing of the complaint came two days after the Iran nuclear accord in Vienna closed on a final text, with parties now consulting in their capitals on whether to agree to it.

Iran was granted sanctions relief in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. Iran has accelerated its nuclear enrichment program since the U.S. pulled out of the agreement. The Biden administration has been trying to get the deal back.

He stated that re-entering the failed 2015 Iran nuclear deal would be an unparalleled self-inflicted wound to ourselves and our closest Middle East allies.

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Two Associated Press writers contributed to the report.