Iran has rejected a US claim of a plot to kill former national security adviser John Bolton ,
John Bolton .
KYIV. UkraineGate . 11 . August . 2022 | World News.
Iran on Thursday rejected US accusations of a plot to kill former White House national security adviser John Bolton in revenge for the killing of one of its top commanders.
Details
The US statement came at a crucial moment in the negotiations on the renewal of the nuclear agreement with Iran.
“The U.S. Department of Justice has made accusations without providing strong evidence, creating a new work of art,” said Nasser Kanani, an official representative of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“This time they concocted a conspiracy involving people like Bolton, whose political career has failed,” Kanani added.
“The Islamic Republic warns against any action against Iranian citizens, resorting to ridiculous accusations.”
Context
The US Department of Justice charged Shahram Poursafi, a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, with offering to pay $300,000 to kill Bolton.
According to the agency, the plan was likely designed to avenge the January 2020 US killing of senior Guard commander Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Poursafi also allegedly glossed over the possibility of a second target, which he said would have netted the killer $1 million.
The court documents did not specify the target, but according to the American media outlet Axios, it was former Secretary of State and CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
According to the documents, the person Pursafi was dealing with was actually an informant for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Pursafi was charged with using the proceeds of interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire, which carries a 10-year prison sentence, and with attempting to provide material support for a transnational conspiracy to commit murder, which carries a 15-year sentence.
The Justice Department said Poursafi remains at large and is believed to be in Iran.
“If Iran attacks any of our citizens, including those who continue to serve the United States or those who have served, Iran will face serious consequences,” current White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan warned after the charges were announced.
Let’s add
Soleimani, a respected figure in Iran, was killed in a US drone strike on January 7, 2020.
After his death, Tehran vowed revenge and the United States stepped up security measures for prominent current and former officials, including Pompeo, who headed the State Department at the time of Soleimani’s assassination.
Bolton, like Pompeo, a staunch critic of Iran, was former President Donald Trump’s White House national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019.
He strongly opposed the 2015 deal limiting Iran’s nuclear program and supported the Trump administration’s unilateral withdrawal from the pact in May 2018.
Bolton called the Iranian government “liars, terrorists and enemies of the United States” in a statement on Wednesday.
Source: Ukrgate
