By Al-Fassel | 2024-12-23

The United States is offering rewards totaling $35 million for information on two senior commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) linked to assassination plots and operations supporting the Houthis in Yemen.

The US State Department's Rewards for Justice (RFJ) program is offering up to $20 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Shahram Poursafi (also known as Shahram Pursafi, Mehdi Rezayi, Shahin Pourbakhsh).

It is offering up to $15 million for information on the financial activities, networks and associates of Abdul Reza Shahlai (also known as Yusuf Abu al-Karkh, Hajji Yusef).

Poursafi, a uniformed member of the IRGC allegedly working under its Quds Force (IRGC-QF), plotted to assassinate former US National Security Adviser John Bolton on US soil, per US Justice Department documents unsealed in 2022.

"Poursafi told the potential assassin – who actually became a confidential source for US investigators – that once he completed the Bolton murder he would have a second assassination job for him," RFJ stated September 26.

Shahlai is reportedly based in Tehran or Sanaa.

Named by the Semafor news website as the deputy commander of the IRGC-QF, he is said to oversee operations in Yemen and the broader region.

US officials have tied Shahlai to a history of directing attacks against the United States and its allies, including a deadly January 2007 assault in Karbala, Iraq.

He orchestrated a 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, and had planned additional follow-on attacks in the United States and elsewhere.

The US Treasury designated Shahlai a terrorist in 2011, building on 2008 sanctions for actions threatening Iraq's stability, with Bahrain, the European Union, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom following suit in 2018.

'Hidden hand' in Yemen

The IRGC-QF is entrenched in Yemen, where it equips the Houthis with attack drones, cruise missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Its instructors also train the Houthis and provide them with tactical intelligence, according to a January report by Semafor.

Retired US Gen. Kenneth McKenzie labeled these activities a "hidden-hand operation," involving "various Iranians on the ground, Quds Force people," the report said.

Analysts say this reflects Tehran's strategy of using proxies such as the Houthis to project regional influence while maintaining plausible deniability.

Poursafi and Shahlai remain at large, and anyone with information on the two IRGC commanders or their activities is asked to get in touch through secure communication platforms.

Tips can be submitted via www.rewardsforjustice.net, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp at +1-202-702-7843, or through the Tor-based tips-reporting channel at he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion (Tor browser required).

Since 1984, RFJ has distributed over $250 million to more than 125 individuals worldwide for actionable information that has helped neutralize threats to US national security.