Iran’s attempted assassination of a senior US official has shed more light on Tehran’s plots against international officials and dissidents in a multi-decade campaign of murder and intimidation spanning several continents.
John Bolton, who served in senior national security positions in the administrations of former US presidents Donald Trump and George W Bush’s, was believed to have been the target of a plot by Shahram Poursafi, who was named by US officials as a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The US Justice Department said the plot was probably “in retaliation” for the January 2020 American air strike that killed the IRGC's Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad.
But the failed plot was one of many attempts on prominent figures abroad, including diplomats and dissidents who fled the regime and organised campaigns against the rule of the ayatollahs from abroad.
Since the 1980s, Iranian agents have been blamed for scores of assassinations and plots, brazenly carried out in international capitals such as Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna, often using pistols or knives but, sometimes, bombs that could have killed innocent bystanders.
More recently, Israel has assassinated high profile figures in Iran's nuclear program as well as members of the Guard, killings which have generated significant controversy in the region and which Israel has only commented on obliquely. In June however, Israeli major general Eyal Zamir said the killings were justifiable.
Following the plot against Mr Bolton, here are some of the most high-profile Iranian plots in recent decades, starting with recent plots against senior politicians from Saudi Arabia and the US, and looking back on Iran's plots against opposition figures.
Hassan Al Qahtani, Saudi consulate employee in Karachi
Al Qahtani, an employee in the Saudi consulate, was shot dead by a man on a motorbike on May 15, 2011.
Saudi and American officials believed that Iran's Quds Force was involved in the Karachi killing.
A Saudi official who spoke to The Washington Post at the time said that Pakistan had identified the killer as a member of a Shiite dissident group known as Sapih Mohammed, which is linked to the Quds Force.
Adel Al Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s climate envoy
In 2011, Washington foiled a plot to assassinate former Saudi ambassador to the US and former foreign minister Adel Al Jubeir.
The reasons behind the attempted killing were unclear but Eric Holder, US attorney general at the time, said that it was “a deadly plot directed by factions of the Iranian government to assassinate a foreign ambassador on US soil with explosives”.
Mr Al Jubeir, currently serving as the kingdom's minister of state for foreign affairs, is a well-known figure in the Saudi government.
One man, Manssor Arbabsiar, was arrested in New York but another managed to flee the US. Along with plotting to commit murder, Arbabsiar was charged with “conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism transcending national boundaries”.
Lana Marks, former US ambassador to South Africa
In September 2020, Ms Marks was reportedly the target of an Iranian assassination team after the killing of Suleimani. US officials revealed she had been sent a notification of the threat, known in US security circles as a “duty to warn” notice.
Mr Trump warned Iran at the time that Washington’s response to an attack on US figures would be overwhelming.
Reports suggested that Ms Marks's long friendship with Mr Trump might have been the main reason why she was a target of Tehran's hit squad.
Donald Trump, former US President
According to leaked US government intelligence reports, Iran has been attempting to kill or capture Mr Trump.
“Iran would probably view the killing or prosecution of a US official it considers equivalent in rank and stature to Suleimani or responsible for his death as successful retaliatory actions,” said the report.
Mr Trump was the one who ordered the strike that killed the Quds Force commander, alongside Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, near Baghdad airport in January 2020, after an escalation of violence between US forces in Iraq and Iran-backed militias.
Mike Pompeo, former US secretary of state
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has been a target of Iran’s assassination plots. Mr Pompeo served in Mr Trump’s Cabinet during the 2020 air strike that killed Suleimani.
Reports by CNN suggest he was the second target, after Mr Bolton, of the IRGC assassination plot.
Gen Kenneth McKenzie, former US Central Command commander
Gen McKenzie has been on Iran's list of top targets for retribution, according to a US intelligence document.
The top US commander oversaw the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 and headed the Central Command, the US military's command over the Middle East since 2019.
He retired from the position in March.
Fereydoun Farrokhzad, Iranian poet and entertainer
Farrokhzad's death has never been solved but an investigation by Radio Free Europe found that the poet's killing in 1992 was believed by German police to have been at the hands of Iranian operatives.
The well-known entertainer — who often appeared on television and released records before the 1979 revolution — had settled in Bonn, Germany, where he organised campaigns against the regime in Tehran and said Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the revered leader of the Iranian revolution, was unqualified to lead the country.
German police believed that Tehran would not let Farrokhzad's activism go “unpunished”, but the case remains unsolved.
Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, former head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
Ghassemlou was taking part in peace talks held in Vienna in July 1989 between his organisation and the government in Tehran, when suspected Iranian agents shot him dead on the street.
He had previously been labelled an “enemy of God” by Mr Khomeini — a designation that carries the death penalty in Iran.
Shapour Bakhtiar, former prime minister of Iran
Bakhtiar was the last prime minister of Iran under the Shah regime and went into exile in France after the revolution.
In August 1991, three men broke into his home and brutally murdered him and his secretary, a crime that strongly resembled the killing of Farrokhzad a year later.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
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Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Chatham House Rule
A mark of Chatham House’s influence 100 years on since its founding, was Moscow’s formal declaration last month that it was an “undesirable
organisation”.
The depth of knowledge and academics that it drew on
following the Ukraine invasion had broadcast Mr Putin’s chicanery.
The institute is more used to accommodating world leaders,
with Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher among those helping it provide
authoritative commentary on world events.
Chatham House was formally founded as the Royal Institute of
International Affairs following the peace conferences of World War One. Its
founder, Lionel Curtis, wanted a more scientific examination of international affairs
with a transparent exchange of information and ideas.
That arena of debate and analysis was enhanced by the “Chatham
House Rule” states that the contents of any meeting can be discussed outside Chatham
House but no mention can be made identifying individuals who commented.
This has enabled some candid exchanges on difficult subjects
allowing a greater degree of free speech from high-ranking figures.
These meetings are highly valued, so much so that
ambassadors reported them in secret diplomatic cables that – when they were
revealed in the Wikileaks reporting – were thus found to have broken the rule. However,
most speeches are held on the record.
Its research and debate has offered fresh ideas to
policymakers enabling them to more coherently address troubling issues from climate
change to health and food security.
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
The specs
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
more from Janine di Giovanni
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
