The US is charging an Iranian national with plotting the assassination of John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser

The White House warns Iran of “serious consequences” if it attacks an American

MADRID, 10 (EUROPA PRESS)

The US Department of Justice on Wednesday filed charges against a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard for allegedly plotting the assassination of John Bolton, former National Security Adviser to former President Donald Trump.

The 45-year-old man from Tehran has been identified as Shahram Poursafi and is said to have planned an attack on Bolton in retaliation for the death of the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, in a January 2020 bomb attack in Baghdad, the capital of the United States Iraq.

Court sources indicate that in October 2021, Poursafi, who is outside of the United States, attempted to pay several people who were on US soil in the amount of $300,000 (EUR 290,000) to secure a attack Bolton in either Washington or Maryland.

The defendant, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, was accused of using commercial companies to pay for these services, according to information from the television channel CNBC.

If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He could also be sentenced to an additional fifteen years in prison for attempting to obtain material for a murder.

Later, current White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement warning that Iran would face “serious consequences” if it carried out an attack on a US citizen.

“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The (President Joe) Biden administration will not compromise on protecting and defending all Americans from threats of violence and terrorism,” Sullivan warned, according to The Hill.

In closing, the senior official congratulated the Justice Department and FBI staff on their handling of the situation and stressed that the government will use all of its resources to protect Americans.