Iranian spy wanted by FBI for conspiring to assassinate US officials

The possible assassination attempts would act as revenge for the killing of Soleimani by a US drone strike.

By Jack Elbaum, The Algemeiner

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is searching for an Iranian spy who is suspected of plotting to assassinate current and former US government officials involved in the 2020 killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

The FBI’s Miami field office late last week issued a wanted notice for Majid Dastjani Farahani, 41, who is “wanted for questioning in connection with the recruitment of individuals for various operations in the United States, to include lethal targeting of current and former United States government officials.”

Farahani allegedly “recruited individuals for surveillance activities focused on religious sites, businesses, and other facilities in the United States” and “acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security,” according to the notice.

Mike Pompeo, who served as former US President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, and Brian Hook, who served in the Trump administration as the US special envoy for Iran, are reportedly at the top of Iran’s hit list.

In December, Farahani — who according to reports sometimes makes visits to Iran and Venezuela — was sanctioned by the US along with Mohammad Mahdi Kanpour Ardestani for recruiting prospective assassins.

The possible assassination attempts would act as revenge for the killing of Soleimani by a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020. As chief commander of the elite Quds force — the overseas arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a US-designated terrorist organization — Soleimani was responsible for Iran’s proxies and terror operations abroad. He was revered among supporters of the Iranian regime.

At the time of the strike on Soleimani, the US Department of Defense said that he and his Quds Force “were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more.”

He was also “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region,” the Pentagon statement read.

In many ways, the drone strike represented the culmination of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which included pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action — commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal — and imposing tough sanctions as a way of preventing the Iranian regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon that would threaten the US, Israel, and other allied countries.

While the move was celebrated by many in the US, it was met with anger in Iran.

Considered an act of war by some, Iran vowed “harsh revenge” for the “martyr.”

Soleimani was involved in several significant Iranian military and intelligence operations over the past 20 years, and his sudden death sent shockwaves across the country.

Years later, Iran was still pledging it would take revenge.

“We have not and will not forget the blood of martyr Soleimani. The Americans must know that revenge for martyr Soleimani’s blood is certain, and the murderers and perpetrators will have no easy sleep,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said last year.

In December, the IRGC claimed Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre — in which the Palestinian terrorist group invaded Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others as hostages — was part of its revenge.

The Iranian government for years has provided funds, weapons, and training to Hamas terrorists.