A six-figure bounty offered by an Iranian national to kill a former U.S. National Security Advisor has laid bare the enduring reach of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its stated mission to retaliate for the 2020 killing of its top commander. The figure at the center of the case is $300,000 — the sum that Shahram Poursafi allegedly offered in August 2022 to carry out the assassination of John Bolton.
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Poursafi with plotting the murder, alleging the plan was directed by the IRGC. Poursafi remains at large, and the case remains open. The plot underscores the long-term threat environment for American officials tied to the drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, the IRGC’s top commander, in January 2020.
That strike was ordered by President Donald Trump, who as the 45th president had pursued a strategy of maximum economic and military pressure on Tehran, including the withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran. Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor from April 9, 2018, to September 10, 2019, was a prominent advocate for both the withdrawal from the JCPOA and the killing of Soleimani.
The Alleged Plot and Its Target
According to prosecutors, Poursafi, an Iranian national, offered the $300,000 bounty in August 2022 to have Bolton killed. The Justice Department charged Poursafi with the plot, alleging it was directed by the IRGC. The case is notable not only for the direct involvement of a state actor’s military arm but also for the relatively modest sum offered — a figure that law enforcement officials described as small for a state-sponsored assassination attempt.
Nonetheless, the stakes are high: the plot represents one of the most serious known efforts by the IRGC to target a former senior U.S. official since the Soleimani killing. John Robert Bolton, born November 20, 1948, served as National Security Advisor during a period of intense Iran policy debate.
He was a vocal supporter of abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal and adopting a harder line against the IRGC. His book about his time in the Trump administration, “The Room Where It Happened,” details his role in shaping that approach. The charges against Poursafi make clear that Bolton’s advocacy placed him in the crosshairs of Iranian retaliatory efforts.
Broader Implications of Iran’s Retaliation Campaign
The Bolton case is not an isolated incident. Since the Soleimani killing, the IRGC has been accused of targeting multiple former U.S. officials involved in the decision. The U.S. government has repeatedly warned about Iranian efforts to retaliate, and the Department of Justice has charged several individuals in connection with Iranian-directed plots.
Some suspects have been arrested; others, like Poursafi, remain at large in Iran. U.S. intelligence officials had warned that former American officials involved in the Soleimani strike could face threats for years to come, and Trump himself was briefed on such risks.
For Bolton, the threat has not prompted a public scaling back of his activities. He continues to write, speak, and appear in the media. The case, however, serves as a stark reminder that the consequences of a White House decision can outlast a presidency.
The plot against Bolton shows that decisions made in the first Trump term — particularly the shift from the JCPOA to a policy of maximum pressure, culminating in the Soleimani killing — continue to reverberate through international security, regardless of who occupies the Oval Office. The $300,000 bounty may be a relatively small figure, but it represents a clear and ongoing danger to American officials who helped shape that policy.
