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IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump adviser
The FBI added Shahram Poursafi, an alleged member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to its Most Wanted Terrorists list over an alleged plot to kill two former US officials. Court documents say the plot included targeting former National Security Adviser John Bolton and was motivated by retaliation for the 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani.
The FBI says Poursafi sought to pay people in the US $300,000 to kill Bolton, but the contact he approached was a confidential source working with the FBI. He was charged in 2022 with offences related to arranging a paid assassination and supporting an international murder plot. The FBI also released wanted posters for three other alleged members of the IRGC’s Qods Force unit.
In short
- The FBI listed Shahram Poursafi over an alleged assassination plot.
- The alleged target included former adviser John Bolton.
- A confidential FBI source helped thwart the plot.
Explained simply
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is an Iranian military organisation separate from the country’s regular armed forces. Its Qods Force unit handles operations beyond Iran’s borders, according to US authorities.
John Bolton served as US national security adviser during Donald Trump’s presidency. Qasem Soleimani, who led the Qods Force, was killed in a US strike in Iraq in 2020; Iran’s leaders described the killing as an assassination and vowed retaliation.
The FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list seeks information about people it says are linked to terrorism. A listing is not a conviction: criminal charges must be proved in court.