{"publisher":{"name":"MediaBias News","url":"https://mediabias.news","methodology":"https://mediabias.news/methodology","editorialPrinciples":"https://mediabias.news/editorial-principles","corrections":"https://mediabias.news/corrections"},"scoreGuide":{"trust":"How well corroborated and evidenced the source reporting is. 0-100, higher is better.","critic":"Craft quality of the source journalism: context, balance, fact vs comment. 0-100, higher is better.","hype":"How far the source presentation runs ahead of substance. 0-100, LOWER IS BETTER.","scope":"Scores assess the original reporting this article was written from, not the truth of the underlying event and not the quality of this write-up."},"assessmentGuide":{"type":"coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis","factCheck":{"status":"not-performed","note":"Media Bias News compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It does not currently publish a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true."},"sourceFactuality":{"note":"Factuality values describe published ratings of the outlets that covered the story. They are not a factuality verdict on this story or its claims."}},"story":{"id":"https://mediabias.news/conflict/fbi-adds-irgc-member-to-most-wanted-list-for-alleged-assassination-plot","slug":"fbi-adds-irgc-member-to-most-wanted-list-for-alleged-assassination-plot","url":"https://mediabias.news/conflict/fbi-adds-irgc-member-to-most-wanted-list-for-alleged-assassination-plot","title":"FBI adds IRGC member to Most Wanted list for alleged assassination plot","subtitle":"Shahram Poursafi accused of soliciting killings of former US officials in retaliation for Soleimani strike.","excerpt":"The FBI has added an IRGC member, Shahram Poursafi, to its Most Wanted Terrorists list. He is accused of plotting to kill two former US officials, including John Bolton, allegedly as retaliation for the US strike that killed Qasem Soleimani.","category":"Conflict & Security","area":"Middle East","publishedAt":"2026-11-12T10:45:52.790Z","sourceReportedAt":"2026-11-11T17:30:08.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-12T10:45:52.790Z","readTime":"3 min read","scores":{"trust":70,"critic":65,"hype":45,"notes":{"trust":"Central claim attributed to FBI; details on plot, payment, and targets are corroborated across multiple outlets.","critic":"Reporting includes FBI statements, court documents, and details on individuals involved, with clear separation of fact and comment.","hype":"Headlines use strong language like 'Most Wanted' and 'Kill Plot' but the body of the reporting is factual."}},"tags":["#FBI","#IRGC","#AssassinationPlot","#JohnBolton","#QasemSoleimani","#Counterterrorism"],"entities":["Shahram Poursafi","FBI","Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)","John Bolton","Qasem Soleimani","Mohammad Reza Ansari","Abolfazl Alizadeh","Mohammad Hossein Shamoradizadeh"],"body":[{"type":"key_takeaways","items":["The FBI has added Shahram Poursafi, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) member, to its Most Wanted Terrorists list.","Poursafi is accused of soliciting the assassinations of two former U.S. government officials, including former National Security Advisor John Bolton.","The alleged plot, which occurred between October 2021 and April 2022, is believed by the FBI to be retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani.","Poursafi allegedly offered up to $300,000 to carry out the killing of John Bolton."]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The FBI has placed Shahram Poursafi, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on its Most Wanted Terrorists list. Poursafi is accused of soliciting the murders of two former U.S. government officials. The alleged plot took place between October 2021 and April 2022. Investigators believe the actions were in retaliation for the U.S. strike in January 2020 that killed IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"According to court documents, Poursafi allegedly offered up to $300,000 to carry out the killing of former National Security Advisor John Bolton. The FBI also named three other alleged IRGC officials from the same unit, the Qods Force: Mohammad Reza Ansari, Abolfazl Alizadeh, and Mohammad Hossein Shamoradizadeh. Ansari is described as a deputy who supported IRGC operations in Syria and allegedly helped plan assassinations. Alizadeh and Shamoradizadeh are identified as battalion commanders involved in lethal plotting operations."},{"type":"heading","text":"Disagreements in reporting"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The reports do not disagree on the core facts of the FBI's announcement regarding Shahram Poursafi and the alleged assassination plot."},{"type":"heading","text":"What the coverage left out"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"None of the right-rated digests mention the specific roles of Mohammad Reza Ansari, Abolfazl Alizadeh, and Mohammad Hossein Shamoradizadeh beyond their general alleged involvement in plotting operations. The centre-rated report provided these details, including Ansari's alleged role as a deputy supporting operations in Syria."}],"basedOn":[{"sourceName":"WIN","url":"https://worldisraelnews.com/fbi-adds-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-member-to-most-wanted-terror-list-for-plotting-to-kill-us-officials","headline":"FBI adds Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member to ‘Most Wanted’ terror list for plotting to kill US officials","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T17:30:08.000Z"},{"sourceName":"Jewish News Syndicate","url":"https://jns.org/news/u-s-news/fbi-adds-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-member-to-most-wanted-terror-list-for-plotting-to-kill-us-officials","headline":"FBI adds Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member to ‘Most Wanted’ terror list for plotting to kill US officials","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T15:23:46.002Z"},{"sourceName":"Cleveland Jewish News","url":"https://clevelandjewishnews.com/jns/fbi-adds-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-member-to-most-wanted-terror-list-for-plotting-to/article_0de14b19-6211-5e94-a23e-f8747baa04ff.html","headline":"FBI adds Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member to ‘Most Wanted’ terror list for plotting to kill US officials","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T15:23:00.000Z"},{"sourceName":"Internewscast","url":"https://internewscast.com/news/us/irgc-operative-hits-fbis-most-wanted-in-ex-trump-aide-kill-plot","headline":"IRGC Operative Hits FBI’s Most Wanted in Ex-Trump Aide Kill Plot","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T01:59:29.000Z"},{"sourceName":"NewsFinale","url":"https://newsfinale.com/us/iranian-irgc-operative-added-to-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"Iranian IRGC Operative Added to FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists List Over Alleged Plot to Kill Former Trump Adviser","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T01:50:09.000Z"},{"sourceName":"nytimespost.com","url":"https://nytimespost.com/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump adviser - NEW YORK TIMES POST","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T01:08:51.000Z"},{"sourceName":"WVII / Fox Bangor","url":"https://foxbangor.com/news/national/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbi-s-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill/article_c4203b8c-3de2-560a-8b7e-8b9abf5482a2.html","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump advisor","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T00:58:39.000Z"},{"sourceName":"Fox News","url":"https://foxnews.com/us/irgc-operative-lands-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-alleged-plot-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump advisor","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T00:58:00.000Z"},{"sourceName":"wfmd.com","url":"https://wfmd.com/2026/11/10/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump adviser","angle":"","publishedAt":"2026-11-10T12:12:46.486Z"}],"analysis":{"distribution":{"percent":{"left":0,"centre":12,"right":88},"count":{"left":0,"centre":1,"right":7},"totalSources":9,"untracked":1,"rated":8,"observedAt":"2026-11-12T11:45:21.691617+00:00"},"lifecycle":{"state":"developing","lastCheckedAt":"2026-11-12T12:00:25.937Z","closedAt":null,"checks":5,"changes":0,"reopened":false},"framing":{"left":[],"centre":["The centre-rated report from Internewscast, which provided a full report, led with the FBI adding an IRGC operative to its Most Wanted Terrorists list for allegedly plotting to kill former U.S. officials. It detailed that Shahram Poursafi is accused of soliciting murders between October 2021 and April 2022, and that the FBI believes this was retaliation for the U.S. strike that killed Qasem Soleimani. The report noted Poursafi allegedly offered up to $300,000 for the killing of John Bolton and identified three other alleged IRGC officials involved. It quoted Gregory Heeb of the FBI’s Washington Field Office stating the FBI would continue disrupting plots and pursuing IRGC members threatening people in the U.S."],"right":["The right-rated reports, which were all digests, focused on the FBI adding an IRGC member to its Most Wanted Terror list for plotting to kill U.S. officials. Several reports highlighted that the plots were likely intended as retaliation for the U.S. assassination of Qasem Soleimani, citing court documents. Some digests included a statement attributed to the bureau: \"The bureau said it 'will not stand for the IRGC’s brazen attempts to silence, harm or murder activists, dissidents, journalists, public officials or anyone else it deems a threat.'\" Other digests mentioned that Shahram Poursafi allegedly sought to pay $300,000 to have John Bolton killed, linking the plot to retaliation for Soleimani’s death."],"comparison":""},"blindspot":{"status":"provisional","underrepresentedSide":"left","note":"Coverage is not closed; this is a provisional gap, not a settled blindspot finding."},"sourceFactualityDistribution":{"low":1,"mixed":4,"high":3,"unknown":1},"ownershipDistribution":{"mediaConglomerate":1,"independent":2,"other":1},"firstDatedReport":{"sourceName":"wfmd.com","url":"https://wfmd.com/2026/11/10/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","publishedAt":"2026-11-10T12:12:46.486Z"},"countries":[{"country":"New York, New York, United States","count":1},{"country":"Jerusalem, Jerusalem District, Israel","count":1},{"country":"Israel","count":1}],"outlets":[{"name":"wfmd.com","url":"https://wfmd.com/2026/11/10/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump adviser","publishedAt":"2026-11-10T12:12:46.486Z","leaningSide":"right","leaningRating":"right","factualityRating":"mixed","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":null,"repostedFrom":null},{"name":"Fox News","url":"https://foxnews.com/us/irgc-operative-lands-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-alleged-plot-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump advisor","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T00:58:00.000Z","leaningSide":"right","leaningRating":"right","factualityRating":"mixed","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":"New York, New York, United States","repostedFrom":"WVII / Fox Bangor"},{"name":"WVII / Fox Bangor","url":"https://foxbangor.com/news/national/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbi-s-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill/article_c4203b8c-3de2-560a-8b7e-8b9abf5482a2.html","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump advisor","publishedAt":"2026-11-11T00:58:39.000Z","leaningSide":"right","leaningRating":"leanRight","factualityRating":"high","angle":null,"isOpinion":false,"country":null,"repostedFrom":null},{"name":"nytimespost.com","url":"https://nytimespost.com/irgc-operative-lands-on-fbis-most-wanted-terrorists-list-over-alleged-plot-to-kill-former-trump-adviser","headline":"IRGC operative lands on FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists list over alleged plot to kill former Trump adviser - 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