The United States has offered a $20 million reward for information on the Iranian accused of plotting to kill Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton.
Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is accused of trying to hire criminals in the US to kill Bolton, a vocal critic of Iran, in exchange for $300,000.
Officials say that between October 2021 and April 2022, Poursafi attempted to hire criminal elements within the United States to kill Bolton in Washington DC or Maryland. The motive was revenge against the US for the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, which was ordered by Trump when he was in the White House, according to officials.
The reward announcement comes the same week Trump said he had been briefed by US intelligence about an alleged Iranian assassination plot against him. Iran has previously denied orchestrating any plot to kill Trump officials or interfere in US affairs.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with NBC News this week, denied allegations that his government has tried to kill Iranian critics abroad.
There has been no evidence so far from US investigators that Iran was involved in either of the two recent assassination attempts against Trump, at a rally in Pennsylvania and at his golf course in Florida.