The FBI office in Miami, Florida, sent an alert on that it is “seeking information” on an Iranian intelligence officer who is wanted in connection to assassination plots against U.S. officials after the killing of former Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in early 2020.
A U.S. State Department-designated terrorist since 2005, Mr. Soleimani was killed during a Trump administration-ordered targeted airstrike on Jan. 3, 2020, near Baghdad, Iraq, for the killings of American soldiers and plots to target Americans.
The FBI added that Mr. Farahani has “reportedly recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States,” adding that he has “acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security.”
The bulletin did not say whether he is in the United States, but it noted that he “has ties” to or “may visit” Venezuela or Iran. It then advised that anyone with information about Mr. Farahani is advised to contact a local FBI office, a U.S. consulate, or a U.S. Embassy.
The FBI also included a photo of the individual, while noting he has brown and gray hair, brown eyes, and was born on July 26, 1982. No other details were released.
Previous Sanctions
Mr. Farahani was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in December 2023, which said he was working to “aggressively target and stifle opponents and dissenting voices.”“The regime’s efforts to silence its opponents extend far beyond its borders, where Iran has carried out acts of transnational repression, including rendition and lethal plotting against activists, journalists, and foreign government officials,” the Treasury department said in a statement.
It came after the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shahram Poursafi, for trying to kill Mr. Bolton. Officials alleged that he attempted to pay individuals in Maryland $300,000 to kill the former official in his home or office in Washington.
According to an affidavit, an informant involved the case asked Mr. Poursafi if there were another individual “who had done worse to Iran and whom they should target instead” of Mr. Bolton and named another official. He allegedly responded that targeting another official could be more dangerous to attack because there would be too many people around, reported The Washington Post.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement at the time.
U.S. officials have alleged that Iran is materially supporting Hamas as well as Yemen’s Houthis, who in recent months, have launched a number of attacks on U.S. military assets and commercial vehicles traveling through the Red Sea. On Monday, the Yemeni group was accused of hitting a Swiss-owned container ship, causing vessel damage but no injuries, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
“Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden” at the ship, the U.S. military said. “Initial reports indicate there were no injuries; the ship did not request assistance and continued on its way.”
