Spokesman Mocks American Story on Iran’s Attempt to Kill Bolton
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Iran dismissed a story invented by the US that an Iranian national had intended to kill John Bolton, branding him as a politically bankrupt and notorious terrorist that has plotted coups against independent states and governments.
In a post on his Twitter account on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said the American fabricated story about a politically bankrupt and well-known terrorist who has plotted coups against independent states and governments is an escape forward with the aim of evading the responsibility of an international crime.
He reminded Washington that the continuation of this uproar will not help whiten the image of the American regime, but will only increase the hatred of the Iranian people and the world towards it.
The US Department of Justice claimed in a statement on Wednesday that a person named Shahram Poursafi, 45, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, "attempted to pay individuals in the United States $300,000 to carry out the murder (of Bolton) in Washington, D.C., or Maryland."
According to the Justice Department, Poursafi was probably seeking retaliation for the US killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
On January 3, a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport assassinated General Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. The attack — that also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror group, along with several others— came while General Soleimani was on an official visit to the Iraqi capital.
The killings led to a major escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington, with Iran officially responding by launching airstrikes against two Iraqi military bases housing US troops.
The Pentagon has since reported that at least 109 US servicemen have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries as the result of the strikes.
