Iran’s failed attempt to assassinate former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security advisor John Bolton was commanded by Mohammad-Reza Ansari, a Syria-based commander of IRGC Quds Force Unit 840, sources told Iran International on Tuesday. In this failed operation, non-Iranian agents were supposed to be used to assassinate Pompeo and Bolton so as to hide the Islamic Republic's role in the attacks, according to the report. However, the person hired for the operation was an FBI informant, sources told the website, which is affiliated with the Iranian opposition. Unit 840 is tasked with abductions and assassinations of foreigners around the world, though Iran has never acknowledged its existence. In August, it was revealed that an Iranian assassination plot had targeted Pompeo , as well as Bolton. At the time, the US Justice Department announced that Shahram Poursafi, an alleged member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, is wanted by the FBI in connection with the plot. That plot centered on Iranian revenge for the death of top IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani, who was eliminated in a US drone strike in Iran in 2020. Related articles: Senior IRGC officers implicated in $21 mil. cryptocurrency theft Iran deploys new missile systems on strategic Gulf islands Up to $15 mil. for info on Houthi, Hezbollah money network Iran threatens 'decisive' response Iran has repeatedly vowed to avenge the death of Soleimani, who was eliminated in a US drone strike in Baghdad in January of 2020. Earlier this year, an animated video published on the website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei depicted the assassination of former US President Donald Trump, who ordered the air strike that eliminated Soleimani.
