FBI Searches for Iranian Accused of Plotting to Murder Mike Pompeo

Facts

• In an escalation of its manhunt, the FBI field office in Miami on Friday issued a most wanted notice for suspected Iranian intelligence officer Majid Dastjani Farahani, who's accused of planning to kill former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other US officials.¹
• The bureau accuses Farahani — who reportedly speaks Spanish and frequently travels to Venezuela — of acting or purporting to act 'for or on behalf of' Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security to draft non-Iranians for surveillance activities in the US.²
• Last December, the US Dept. of the Treasury announced sanctions against Farahani and another alleged Iranian intelligence officer for several operations on US soil as revenge for the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.³
• Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) — which the US has designated as a terrorist organization — was killed in a drone strike at the Baghdad airport in Jan. 2020 on the orders of then-Pres. Donald Trump.⁴
• This notice comes after the Biden administration earlier this year renewed government-provided security details for Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook due to persistent 'serious and credible' threats from Iran.⁵
• Previously, US authorities two years ago indicted a member of the IRGC for an alleged plot to kill former National Security Advisor John Bolton.⁶

Sources: ¹National Review, ²Iran International, ³Newsweek, ⁴BBC News, ⁵Associated Press and ⁶New York Post.

Narratives

• Republican narrative, as provided by Washington Examiner. As Iran continually threatens former US officials who served at great personal sacrifice, it gets more disturbing that the White House has abused the classification system to hide information about such plans from the press and policymakers. The White House values potential deals with Tehran over punishing it for dangerous plots.
• Democratic narrative, as provided by CBS. Trump officials on Iran's hit list have been well-protected since this issue arose. In fact, the Biden administration has allocated millions of dollars annually to counter threats from Iran and ensure these officials' safety — as well as that of Iranian dissidents and journalists living in America. This is a well-coordinated national security operation from the White House.

Predictions