Blinken Warns Iran over Plot to Target Bolton, Pompeo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a speech on the US Africa Strategy at the University of Pretoria's Future Africa Campus in Pretoria, South Africa, August 8, 2022. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a speech on the US Africa Strategy at the University of Pretoria's Future Africa Campus in Pretoria, South Africa, August 8, 2022. (Reuters)
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Blinken Warns Iran over Plot to Target Bolton, Pompeo

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a speech on the US Africa Strategy at the University of Pretoria's Future Africa Campus in Pretoria, South Africa, August 8, 2022. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a speech on the US Africa Strategy at the University of Pretoria's Future Africa Campus in Pretoria, South Africa, August 8, 2022. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Iran on Thursday against targeting American citizens in wake of the revelation that Tehran had plotted to murder John Bolton, a national security adviser to former President Donald Trump.

“Our message to Iran is clear: we will not tolerate threats of violence against Americans — and that certainly includes former government officials. Any attack would be met with severe consequences,” tweeted Blinken.

It was revealed that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who also served under Trump, was another target of Iranian plots.

Earlier, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan warned Iran that the Biden Administration “will not waiver in protecting and defending all Americans against threats of violence and terrorism.”

The United States charged a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps on Wednesday with plotting to murder Bolton.

The Justice Department alleged that Shahram Poursafi, also known as Mehdi Rezayi, 45, of Tehran, was likely motivated to kill Bolton in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani, a commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps killed in a US drone strike in January 2020.

Pompeo was the second target, according to Morgan Ortagus, who served as State Department spokesperson during his tenure.

Iran does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, and Poursafi remains at large. The FBI on Wednesday released a most-wanted poster.

Tehran condemned the US move.

“Iran strongly warns against any action against Iranian citizens under the pretext of these ridiculous and baseless accusations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.



Iran Media: Russian Rocket Puts Iran Satellite into Space

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
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Iran Media: Russian Rocket Puts Iran Satellite into Space

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, carrying two Ionosfera-M satellites and 18 payloads, including Iran's Nahid-2 telecommunications satellite, blasts off from its launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far-eastern Amur region, Russia July 25, 2025. Roscosmos/Ivan Timoshenko/Handout via REUTERS

A Russian rocket put an Iranian communications satellite into space on Friday, Iranian state media reported, the latest achievement for an aerospace program that has long concerned Western governments.

"The Nahid-2 communications satellite was launched from Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome using a Soyuz rocket," state television said.

Weighing 110 kilograms (over 240 pounds), the satellite was designed and manufactured by Iranian engineers, the broadcaster added.

Western governments have long expressed concern that technological advances made in Iran's space program can also be used to upgrade its ballistic missile arsenal, AFP reported.

The launch was announced shortly before nuclear talks between Iran and Britain, France and Germany opened in Istanbul.

In December, Iran announced it had put its heaviest payload to date into space, using a domestically manufactured satellite carrier.

In September, Iran said it had put the Chamran-1 research satellite into orbit using the Ghaem-100 carrier, which is produced by the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division.