The FBI’s Washington Field Office has reported that a member of Iran’s IRGC has been charged in an alleged murder for hire plot to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton.

According to a release by the Department of Justice, Iranian national and IRGC member  Shahram Poursafi, 45, of Tehran, Iran, “ attempted to pay individuals in the United States $300,000 to carry out the murder in Washington, D.C. or Maryland,” which is believed to be in retaliation for the 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani. Poursafi remains at large abroad, but faces up to 25 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if caught and convicted.

Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, faces charges for his alleged role in a transnational murder plot targeting former National Security Advisor John Bolton. Learn more at https://t.co/WBb4ywoDK5.@DOJNatSec pic.twitter.com/47YENwlztv

— FBI Washington Field (@FBIWFO) August 10, 2022

“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, through the Defendant, tried to hatch a brazen plot: assassinate a former U.S. official on U.S. soil in retaliation for U.S. actions,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “Iran and other hostile governments should understand that the U.S. 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.”

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division stated that “The Justice Department has the solemn duty to defend our citizens from hostile governments who seek to hurt or kill them. This is not the first time we have uncovered Iranian plots to exact revenge against individuals on U.S. soil and we will work tirelessly to expose and disrupt every one of these efforts.”

According to the FBI, Poursafi’s plot began in October 2021, in which he reached out to individuals online and offered to pay thousands of dollars for information on and pictures of Bolton. He later offered $300,000 for Bolton’s assassination, later saying he “had an additional “job,” for which he would pay $1 million.”

The United States government believes that Iran is still exploring ways to carry out revenge for the 2020 assassination of IRGC Major General Qasem Soleimani, including assassinating American officials, according to a June 2022 intelligence assessment by the National Counterterrorism Center that was obtained by Yahoo. While testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee back in May, United States Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated that Iran is still trying to “seek revenge” against the United States, explaining that “A fair amount of their motivation in this scenario we assess to be in relation to Soleimani as part of their sort of efforts for revenge, and is a particularly challenging area, I think, to deter them from action in this space.”