The United States is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of senior Iranian military and intelligence figures, among them Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who has been named Iran's new Supreme Leader, according to a posting on the State Department's website.
The reward program targets a total of 10 individuals connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military force formed after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that reports to the supreme leader and is charged with safeguarding the Shi'ite clerical establishment. The State Department statement said these people "command and direct various elements of the IRGC, which plans, organizes, and executes terrorism around the world."
Mojtaba Khamenei succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, after the elder Khamenei was killed along with several other senior Iranian officials in a series of joint U.S. and Israeli strikes that began on February 28. The younger Khamenei is believed to have been wounded in those attacks and has not appeared publicly since; he issued his first statement on Thursday following the strikes.
Alongside the supreme leader, the U.S. request for information names several senior security and intelligence figures. Those explicitly listed include Iran's security chief Ali Larijani, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and two officials who serve in Khamenei's office. The public reward posting also references four other officials, described as commanding various IRGC elements, but those individuals are not named or shown in photographs on the website.
Videos verified by Reuters showed Larijani attending a rally in Tehran with President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, a public appearance that came after a U.S. defense official had characterized Iran's leadership as "cowering" underground. The State Department's listing underscores Washington's contention that these figures are instrumental in directing IRGC activities.
The Revolutionary Guards could not be reached for comment on Friday, the weekly day of rest in Iran, and Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington has long treated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of responsibility for attacks that have killed U.S. citizens. U.S. authorities have also alleged that Iran has plotted assassinations targeting President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials in retaliation for the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Iranian officials reject U.S. terrorism designations and generally describe such accusations as politically motivated, arguing they are used to justify pressure campaigns or sanctions.
Summary of the situation: The U.S. is publicly seeking actionable information on a set of senior Iranian security and intelligence figures, including the newly proclaimed supreme leader, offering monetary rewards via the State Department for leads. The list emphasizes the role of the IRGC in orchestrating overseas attacks, while several listed individuals have surfaced in limited public appearances even as questions remain about the internal state of Iran's leadership following recent strikes.