The United States government announced Friday a significant financial incentive and relocation opportunity for information leading to the whereabouts of senior Iranian officials. The State Department confirmed the reward of up to $10 million targets 10 key leaders within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an entity the U.S. government has designated as a terrorist organization. This initiative is part of the long-standing Rewards for Justice program, which has historically offered financial incentives for intelligence on terrorism suspects and hostile actors globally.
Iranian citizens and others with pertinent knowledge are encouraged to submit tips through secure channels, including a Tor browser tip line or the encrypted messaging platform Signal. This approach underscores a strategic effort by Washington to penetrate Iran's internal power structures and gather critical intelligence.
Among the targeted individuals are several prominent figures within Iran’s ruling establishment. The list includes Mojtaba Khamenei, identified as the new Supreme Leader, national security adviser Ali Larijani, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, and Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib. Notably, four additional figures are listed by their positions rather than by name, including the secretary of Iran’s defense council and the chief of the country’s military office. U.S. officials indicated that these unnamed figures were left unidentified due to recent leadership changes within the Iranian government, which followed a series of major military developments in the region.
These leadership shifts occurred in the wake of the assassination of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. Since that event, several new figures have ascended to positions of influence within the Iranian government. However, the State Department's reward offer does not encompass every member of Iran's current leadership. Prominent figures conspicuously absent from the list include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, all of whom collectively assumed leadership responsibilities in Iran following the former supreme leader's assassination, as reported by the New York Post.
The announcement coincided with public appearances by several Iranian officials in Tehran during a large pro-Palestinian demonstration. Among those observed marching were Ali Larijani, who is on the reward list, alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, neither of whom were included in the State Department’s targeted list. Despite their public visibility, the U.S. government's selection of targets suggests a deliberate focus on specific individuals deemed critical to the IRGC's operations and influence.
This move by the U.S. represents a significant escalation in its ongoing campaign to exert pressure on Iran’s military and political leadership. By combining a substantial financial reward with the offer of relocation to the United States, Washington appears to be actively seeking to encourage insiders to defect or provide actionable intelligence. Historically, the United States has employed creative methods to identify wanted officials during periods of conflict. A notable example occurred during the 2003 Iraq War, when U.S. forces distributed playing cards featuring members of Saddam Hussein’s government to help soldiers identify key targets.
The new reward campaign unfolds against a backdrop of intensifying tensions between Washington and Tehran. Recent weeks have seen an increase in military strikes, significant political upheaval within Iran, and mounting geopolitical pressure, all contributing to a heightened state of conflict between the two nations. Through this multi-million-dollar offer and the promise of safe passage to the U.S., American officials are evidently betting that individuals within Iran’s power structure may be compelled to cooperate, potentially providing intelligence that could reshape the dynamics of the ongoing regional standoff.
