‘Credible threat’ of assassination attempt against Donald Trump, FBI claims

The FBI foiled an attempt by Iran-linked hitmen to kill senior members of Donald Trump’s administration under a transnational ‘murder-for-hire’ scheme.

The FBI claims an Iranian spy hired a hitman to kill senior members of Donald Trump’s administration, while threats of an assassination plot against the former president have been deemed “credible”.

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said he remains under Secret Service protection following a foiled assassination plot against several senior US government officials orchestrated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

US intelligence officers told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Tehran is hiring hit men around the world and in America to avenge the 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, including a “credible threat” against Trump, who authorised the air strike that killed the terrorist mastermind.

The US Department of Justice has previously accused Iranian Shahram Poursafi, aka Mehdi Rezayi, of commissioning a transnational murder plot against Bolton under a US$300,000 bounty.

But sources within the FBI and several intelligence agencies speaking to CBS linked Iran’s “murder-for-hire” program directly to Trump for the first time, saying video affiliated to the Revolutionary Guard vowing to kill the former president was “credible”.

Iranian Shahram Poursafi allegedly plotted to kill former National Security Adviser John Bolton and other senior officials from the Trump White House. Picture: Supplied

Posted online by Iranian-linked Telegram “SEPAHCYBERY”, the animated video shows an evidence board with photos of Trump and several of his top defence officials against the backdrop of guns, explosives and poison.

“The perpetrators of general Soleimani martyrdom will be punished for their actions,” the video, published in January 2023, said. “We will determine how and when to punish. Coming soon …”

Threats like those made against Trump and his advisers were deemed serious enough for a full protection detail for members of his administration, including Bolton, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper; and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – who had a $US1 million bounty on his head.

“The Revolutionary Guard sought to procure either my kidnapping or my assassination, not directly by a Revolutionary Guard’s member, but by seeking a hitman, who would carry out the job either in the US or abroad,” Bolton told 60 minutes.

“This was not internet chatter. This was a negotiation to murder an American citizen, a former government official.”

According to court documents, Mr Poursafi – a uniformed member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps who remains on the FBI’s most wanted list – contacted a confidential informant and offered up to $300,000 to “eliminate” Bolton with the promise of an additional “job” for $1 million.

A Telegram channel linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard posted a video threatening to kills former US president Donald Trump and senior members of his administration. Picture: Supplied

Posting the images against a backdrop of firearms and poison, the FBI deemed the threats of an assassination attempt to be “credible”. Picture: Supplied

“From October 2021 to April 2022, Iran-based Poursafi allegedly used encrypted, internet-based messaging applications to hire criminal elements within the United States to murder a former USG official in Washington D.C. or Maryland,” the FBI says on its WANTED poster.

“Poursafi allegedly provided material support and resources to facilitate the attempted transnational killing of a person within the United States, an act of terrorism.”

“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, through the Defendant, tried to hatch a brazen plot,” said US Attorney Matthew M Graves.

“Iran and other hostile governments should understand that the US Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will do everything in our power to thwart their violent plots and bring those responsible to justice,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Credible threat’ of assassination attempt against Donald Trump, FBI claims