Iran targets Americans from John Bolton to Salman Rushdie
Bolton, Pompeo and Trump received death threats from Tehran after the US drone strike that led to the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani two years ago.
CHAUTAUQUA, NEW YORK:
After a 24-year-old New Jersey man named Hadi Matar stabbed the controversial author up to 15 times on stage during a New York event on Friday, August 12, the incident is now under investigation. Although the purpose of the attack is still unknown, Iran’s ongoing plans against the US have undoubtedly come under the spotlight. Iran has been threatening Salman Rushdie’s life for many years. The Satanic Verses, one of his novels published in 1988, was found offensive by many Muslims around the world.
The author was later outlawed in several Islamic countries, and Ayatollah Khomeini subsequently issued a fatwa against him. The Daily Mail claims there have been other conspiracies against the US recently since John Bolton, a former national security adviser, appeared to have been the target of an assassination attempt. Mike Pompeo, a former secretary of state, was also reportedly a target of Tehran. The two, along with Donald Trump, have already received death threats from Tehran after Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike two years ago.
Stephen King, JK Rowling and others denounce ‘TERRIBLE’ attack on Salman Rushdie
John Bolton’s assassination plan
The Daily Mail claims that a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plotted the assassination of John Bolton (IRGC). According to prosecutors, Shahram Poursafi offered unnamed “criminal organizations” in the United States $300,000 for the contract killing. The reason given is the assassination of the commander of the top guard Soleimani by the USA in Iraq in January 2020.
Bolton claimed in an interview with CNN that the alleged plan exposed Iran’s foreign policy strategy. “I think it’s very clear that Iran is after more than just former government officials,” the author continued, “so it’s important to understand how detailed the work was to send me into the great afterlife, and really, to what extent the Iranian government had thought this through and was involved in the planning.”
However, Iran has denied every single allegation against Poursafi. According to Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, “The US Department of Justice has made allegations without providing credible evidence, creating a new fiction.” Making allegations, he continued, concluding: “This time they have devised a strategy involving people like Bolton whose political career has collapsed.”
John Bolton, the National Security Adviser, is present at the Oval Office meeting where US President Donald Trump signed HR 390
On December 11, 2018 in Washington, DC, National Security Advisor John Bolton attends a meeting in the Oval Office where US President Donald Trump signs HR 390, the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018. (Image: Mark Wilson via Getty Images)
Mike Pompeo is a target
According to The Daily Mail, the Justice Department claimed Poursafi was allegedly preparing to pay $1 million for a second job. According to Morgan Ortagus, who previously served as State Department spokeswoman, the obvious second target was Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State. After a US drone strike killed Soleimani, the National Counter Terrorism Center agreed that Pompeo was one of its “priority targets” in June.
According to reports, an intelligence report from Yahoo! The news was circulated within government and to law enforcement agencies across the country. According to the article, General Kenneth McKenzie, former commander of CENTCOM, former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, and former President Donald Trump were among the “top targets for revenge.”
Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, in January tweeted an animated film that appeared to show a robot ordering a drone attack on President Trump while he was playing golf at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. The video, titled “Revenge is Inevitable,” was created as part of a competition commemorating Soleimani’s death two years ago. On another occasion, an Iranian spy named Khalid Mehdiyev was charged with making threats against Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist and human rights lawyer. He reportedly armed himself with an AK-47 and gave chase to the journalist’s home in Brooklyn. Alinejad has repeatedly criticized Iran’s head covering laws for women.