The US is putting a $20 million bounty on the Iranian man in the John Bolton assassination attempt

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Thursday offered a $20 million reward for a member of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps charged with the contract killing of former national security adviser John Bolton.

The bounty for Shahram Poursafi comes two days after former President Donald Trump said he had been briefed by U.S. intelligence officials about “real and specific” Iranian threats to his life.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the administration is “very closely pursuing … an ongoing threat from Iran against a number of senior officials, including former administration officials such as President Trump, and some people currently serving in the administration.”

In announcing the reward for Poursafi, U.S. officials said his plot was part of a broader effort by Iran to retaliate against the U.S., particularly Trump administration officials like Bolton, over Trump's order to kill IRGC General Qasem Soleimani Kill in Baghdad in 2020.

They also suggested that the plot was ongoing, saying in a press release that the Iran-based Poursafi “is believed to be working on behalf of the IRGC's international paramilitary unit, the Quds Force,” to arrange Bolton's assassination.

More:Iran is trying to assassinate Donald Trump and other US leaders, officials say

From October 2021 to April 2022, Poursafi, then 45, attempted to hire “criminal elements in the United States” to assassinate Bolton in or around Washington, D.C., and pay $300,000 to do so, the reward announcement said.

The criminal complaint against Poursafi alleges that he provided material support to make Bolton's murder possible. He also told the would-be assassin – who had become a confidential source for US investigators – that once he murdered Bolton, he would have a second assassination contract worth $1 million for him.

In a USA TODAY interview Thursday, Bolton praised the State Department for offering a reward for information leading to Poursafi's arrest and conviction.

“From a law enforcement perspective, this is exactly the right thing to do,” Bolton said, adding that he believes the Biden administration needs to use “much more than just law enforcement” to stop Iran from plotting to kill U.S. officials .

More:The US imposes sanctions on Iranian officials over the plot to kill John Bolton and other Trump officials

“I think it really is an act of war and I think the Biden administration should treat it as such and pursue it not only from a law enforcement perspective but also from a national security perspective,” Bolton said.

Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019, said news of a possible current conspiracy was not surprising since “Trump was at the top of the list that the rest of us were on following Qasem Soleimani's untimely departure.” .”

“Why the Iranians decided to do something two months before the election I can’t explain,” Bolton added, “but this threat has been around for a long time.”

Matthew Levitt, former deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for intelligence and analysis, said the reward was unusually high for a wanted terrorist, reflecting U.S. concerns about an Iranian conspiracy.

“That's a lot of money. Usually it is significantly less. That’s a statement,” said Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Who knows? Maybe there's someone who decides, 'You know, I wanted to leave Iran anyway, here's a way for me to secure my financial future.'”

The US is putting a $20 million bounty on the Iranian man in the John Bolton assassination attempt

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