A complaint that was unsealed today in the District of Columbia accuses an Iranian IRGC member of using resources related to interstate commerce to commit murder-for-hire as well as of offering and attempting to offer material support to a murder plot that spans international borders.
According to court records, Shahram Poursafi, aka Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, Iran, attempted to plan the murder of former national security adviser John Bolton beginning in October 2021. This was probably done in retaliation for the January 2020 death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF). Poursafi sought to pay Americans $300,000 to commit the murder in Washington, D.C., or Maryland while acting on behalf of the IRGC-QF.
According to court records, on October 22, 2021, Poursafi requested images of the former National Security Advisor from Individual A, a U.S. citizen he had previously met online, saying the pictures were needed for a book Poursafi was writing. Poursafi was informed by Person A that Person B could connect Poursafi with someone who would take the photos for $5,000–$10,000. Later, Person A introduced Poursafi to a friend (referred to in court documents as the confidential human source or CHS).
Poursafi contacted the CHS using an encrypted messaging app on November 9, 2021, and later referred the CHS to another encrypted messaging app for more discussions. Poursafi made a $250,000 offer to the CHS to pay someone to “kill” the previous National Security Advisor. Later, a $300,000 cap was agreed for this sum. Poursafi said, “I have another job,” for which I will pay $1 million.
Poursafi indicated that the CHS would probably have to commit the murder before he or she could be paid, but urged the CHS to create a bitcoin account to facilitate payment. He went on to explain to the CHS that Poursafi’s “group” would become irate if he or she received payment but the murder was not carried out. A further check of one of Poursafi’s web profiles turned up images of him sporting an Iranian IRGC patch on his uniform. Poursafi’s connection to the Iranian IRGC was frequently mentioned by the CHS in their correspondence. Poursafi never refuted that he was associated with the IRGC-QF.