A crowdfunding initiative claiming to have raised a $40 million bounty for the assassination of former President Trump is reportedly connected to ex-employees of Iran’s primary propaganda network.
This effort, led by a group referred to as the “blood contract,” emerged after multiple radical Iranian clerics issued fatwas—essentially death warrants—against Trump. They labeled him as “Allah’s enemy,” particularly following a U.S. military strike on three of Tehran’s nuclear sites last month.
According to a message posted by Brad Covenant on the initiative’s website, they are promising rewards to anyone willing to harm extremists and supporters of Imam Mahdi. The rhetoric used is, um, rather alarming, including images of playing cards in crosshairs.
Claims from the U.S. suggest that these blood contracts operate “with the support of the Iranian regime,” as noted by the Middle East Media Research Institute. The organization characterized this fundraising effort as, well, a religious call for jihad, urging supporters to both donate funds and even sacrifice their lives. They mentioned that the promotional material grants religious validation to acts of violence against Trump.
Interestingly, this call for violence against Trump seems to resonate through Iranian society at various levels, amplified by the media and endorsed by prominent religious figures. This broad consensus is strengthened by increasingly generous rewards for such acts, which now stand at over $40 million.
Analysts from the Democrat Defense Foundation, Max Lesser and Maria Rioflio, suspect a significant individual named Hossein Abbasifar, who allegedly worked for Iran’s Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), to be behind the blood contract. This network serves as the regime’s primary outlet for propaganda.
The analysts uncovered that Abbasifar might have experience as an operator of a state-sponsored radio station known as “the voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” This insight suggests that by identifying individuals responsible for such bounty campaigns, the U.S. government could impose sanctions on them.
Lesser and Rioflio express that the U.S. government has a chance to hold accountable those promoting violence, offering an opportunity to make a strong example of such behavior.
Neither the White House nor the State Department have provided comments regarding the situation thus far.
A senior official from the State Department informed the Washington Free Beacon that the Trump administration is aware of the threats made and is committed to ensuring accountability for such actions. They emphasized that all available measures, including sanctions, will be employed as part of the President’s strategy to exert maximum pressure.
This bounty initiative gained traction particularly after Iranian cleric Ayatollah Nasser Makalem Siraj issued a fatwa against Trump on June 29, accusing him of attempting to assassinate Khamenei and reiterating his designation as “Allah’s enemy.”
