An Iranian American targeted for assassination by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps credited U.S. authorities for "a good job of espionage" while helping to protect him.
Amir Fakhravar spoke to Newsmax one day after the United States announced sanctions against a group of Iranian and Turkish people and businesses accused of plotting to assassinate former U.S. government officials, dual U.S. and Iranian nationals, and dissidents.
"That was very good job of espionage, by the way, because, in this case, I have been briefed for more than two years," Fakhravar told Newsmax on Friday.
"From day one, the FBI had me in their office and briefed me. They had me move to different locations in their safe houses. They checked to see if the regime put any bugs in my car, my phone, or anywhere else. They had cameras around my house. They protected me."
Fakhravar, 47, spent five years in an Iranian prison as a student leader before fleeing the country with the help of U.S. officials. He's currently the Senate chair of the National Iranian Congress, an organization opposing the Islamic Republic regime in Iran.
"The plan was to kill [former national security adviser] John Bolton and [former Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo and me in retaliation of Qassem Soleimani being killed by President Trump, which was the best job of President Trump," Fakhravar told Newsmax.
Fakhravar said the IRGC even sent someone to Houston, Texas, to try and find the dissident’s home address. He added the FBI has an audio file of sanctioned Shahram Poursafi, an Iranian national, mentioning Fakhravar’s name twice.
"I’m not surprised because this was not the first time the regime has tried to do that," Fakhravar told Newsmax. "I have a bunch of followers [in Iran]. I have more than 1 million followers on Instagram there, and I have been very influential in several demonstrations and cases against the regime inside and outside the country."
The sanctions imposed on a company affiliated with the IRGC and others block all access to their U.S. money and property and prohibit Americans and American firms from working with them.
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