Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Shahram Poursafi, also known as Shahram Pursafi and Mehdi Rezayi.
Poursafi is a uniformed member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who is believed to be working on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC- QF) to arrange the transnational murder-for-hire of former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton.
From October 2021 to April 2022, Iran-based Poursafi, using encrypted, Internet-based messaging applications, attempted to hire criminal elements within the United States to murder Bolton in Washington, D.C. or Maryland in exchange for $300,000. Poursafi allegedly provided material support and resources to facilitate the attempted transnational killing, which U.S. authorities have declared is an act of terrorism. Poursafi told the assumed assassin – who actually became a confidential source for U.S. investigators — that once he completed the Bolton murder he would have a second assassination job for him.
On August 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint against Poursafi for his role in the alleged plot. If convicted, Poursafi faces up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for the use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire, and up to 15 years imprisonment and a fine up to $250,000 for providing and attempting to provide material support to a transnational murder plot. Poursafi remains at large abroad.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Poursafi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, as amended, on June 1, 2023 for his involvement in the plot. The designation means that any of Poursafi property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with him.
Both the IRGC and IRGC-QF have been designated by the Secretary of State as an FTO under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
