President Donald Trump has been identified as the primary target on Iran’s assassination list, according to former White House national security adviser John Bolton. This revelation was made during Bolton’s appearance on Sky News’ program “The World,” where he discussed the extensive reach of Iran’s terror network in Europe and the United States.
Bolton, who served as National Security Adviser during Trump’s first term from 2018 to 2019, mentioned that several U.S. government officials have been targets of Iranian assassination attempts in response to the January 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani by a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad Airport, Iraq.
“President Trump is at the top of their list of their targets,” Bolton said during the interview. He also noted that he is on Iran’s hit list, though Trump remains the main target.
Soleimani held the rank of major general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and led the Quds Force, a unit responsible for overseas military and covert operations. The United States had labeled Soleimani a terrorist. Before his death, he was a prominent figure within the Iranian leadership, second only to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Bolton indicated that the Iranian regime might employ criminal elements to execute its assassination plans, particularly “Eastern European criminal gangs and others.” This observation aligns with recent intelligence reports suggesting Iran’s increasing reliance on criminal networks in Europe for carrying out attacks against perceived adversaries.
In 2022, the U.S. Justice Department issued an arrest warrant for Iranian national Shahram Poursafi, accused of plotting Bolton’s assassination. Court documents indicated that Poursafi, an IRGC member, attempted to pay individuals in the United States up to $300,000 to murder Bolton in Washington, D.C., or Maryland. Poursafi remains at large in Iran.
Bolton told Sky News that the threat against him and other former officials persists. “I’m not the only person in addition to Trump,” he stated, noting that other former cabinet officials are also targeted due to their roles in U.S. government actions.
The former national security adviser further warned that if Iran were to successfully target a senior U.S. official, it could be viewed as an “act of war,” describing such actions as “really dangerous.”
Bolton’s comments come amid growing concerns about Iran’s use of criminal networks as proxies for operations in Europe and North America. Security agencies in various countries have documented Iran’s increasing collaboration with organized crime groups to engage in surveillance, intimidation, and attacks against Iranian dissidents, Israeli and Jewish targets, and Western government officials.
MI5 Director General Ken McCallum reported in May that since January 2022, British authorities have dealt with 20 Iranian-backed plots targeting UK citizens and residents. He noted that “Iranian state actors make extensive use of criminals as proxies” in these operations.
Intelligence agencies in Sweden and Israel have recently disclosed that Iran has been employing Swedish criminal gangs, such as Foxtrot and Rumba, to target Israeli and Jewish facilities in Europe. The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) confirmed in May 2024 that “Iran has been for several years carrying out activities inside the country that threaten security,” often employing criminal networks as proxies.
Since the 2018 thwarted Iranian bomb plot in Paris, which led to the arrest and conviction of an Iranian diplomat, Tehran has altered its tactics to create more distance between the regime and its overseas operations. According to France’s domestic intelligence service DGSI, Iranian intelligence has “adapted their modus operandi and now more systematically prefer to use people from criminal circles” for foreign attacks.
The targets of these operations have broadened to include American and European government officials involved in actions against Iranian interests, especially those linked to the decision to kill Soleimani.
Despite Bolton’s ongoing warnings about the Iranian threat, his relationship with President Trump has been strained since his departure from the administration. Bolton has become a vocal critic of the president and previously considered running against him. He described his experience in the Trump White House as being “like living inside a pinball machine.”
Adding to the controversy, Bolton revealed that Trump withdrew his government security protection upon returning to office in January 2025. “On what one might have thought was a pretty busy inauguration day, President Trump had the time to cancel my Secret Service protection,” Bolton stated. He cautioned that this action “sends a very bad signal to adversaries of the United States around the world.”
Bolton confirmed he has since arranged for his own private security to replace the Secret Service detail. He expressed concern that Trump’s actions might “have an effect on decision making” for officials in the current administration if they observe the consequences for those who “fall out of Trump’s favor.”
In October 2024, the Biden administration announced a reward of up to $20 million for information on Shahram Poursafi, the Iranian operative charged with plotting to kill Bolton. This reward followed briefings to then-presidential candidate Trump by U.S. intelligence officials about an Iranian assassination plot against him.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges against multiple individuals linked to Iranian plots against American citizens and former officials in recent years, underscoring the ongoing threat posed by Tehran’s network of operatives and criminal proxies.