The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian military, intelligence and government figures accused of involvement in operations and cyber activity targeting U.S. interests, as the Trump administration widens its pressure campaign against Tehran.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The United States is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information concerning senior members of Iran’s military and security establishment, expanding Washington’s campaign against Tehran as the Trump administration intensifies economic, political and intelligence pressure on the Islamic Republic.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced Monday that it is seeking information about five senior figures associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a U.S. government announcement.
The individuals named are IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi; Ali Abdollahi, the former head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters who was appointed earlier this month to lead Iran’s conventional military; Saeed Aghajani, who heads the IRGC Aerospace Force’s drone operations; Hamidreza Lashgarian, chief of the IRGC Cyber Electronic Command; and Majid Khademi, the IRGC’s intelligence chief.
The State Department says the officials have played roles in military operations and cyberattacks directed at U.S. entities and institutions.
The inclusion of Khademi stands out because he was reported killed in an Israeli airstrike in April during Operation Roaring Lion.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed Khademi’s death at the time. The IRGC subsequently acknowledged his death and included his remains in a public burial ceremony for Iranian officials killed in targeted strikes.
Rewards for Justice is seeking more than information directly identifying or locating the officials. The program says people who provide useful intelligence may also qualify for protection and assistance relocating to a safe location.
That provision could create an incentive for Iranian civilians, dissidents, anti-regime activists and people with access to senior government or military circles to provide information concerning the officials’ locations, activities, operational responsibilities or networks.
The initiative extends well beyond the five IRGC figures.
The State Department is also offering rewards for information involving nine additional Iranian officials or senior positions within the country’s political, intelligence and national-security structure.
Those named include Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei; Ali Asghar Hejazi, a former deputy chief of staff of the Supreme Leader’s Office; Yahya Rahim Safavi, identified as a military adviser to the Supreme Leader’s Office; and Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni.
Rewards were also announced in connection with several senior Iranian government positions without identifying the people currently occupying them.
Those positions include secretary of the defense council, adviser to the Supreme Leader, chief of the Supreme Leader’s Office military branch and director-general of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.
The United States is additionally seeking information concerning the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a position Mohsen Rezaee was appointed to earlier this month.
The reward initiative places additional pressure on senior Iranian leadership at a time when Washington is attempting to disrupt not only Tehran’s financial resources but also the military, intelligence and cyber networks supporting the government.
The IRGC has been a central target of U.S. policy for years.
Washington designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Quds Force, as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.
Since then, the United States has imposed extensive sanctions targeting IRGC commanders, affiliated companies, financial networks, overseas operations, assets and supply chains used to obtain technology and other resources.
The Rewards for Justice announcement broadens that pressure by attempting to encourage people with firsthand information to provide intelligence directly to the United States.
Such information could potentially concern the movements of senior officials, command structures, cyber operations, military planning or networks used by Iranian authorities to carry out activities Washington considers threatening to U.S. interests.
The offer comes as the Trump administration launches a broader campaign known as “Operation Economic Outcast,” designed to isolate Iran financially and sever the economic relationships that continue providing Tehran with revenue and access to international markets.
That initiative has included expanded sanctions against Iranian-linked individuals, companies and vessels as well as warnings that foreign governments and businesses continuing to facilitate Iranian commerce could themselves face U.S. penalties.
The new rewards add an intelligence component to that pressure campaign, pairing financial sanctions aimed at Iran’s economy with multimillion-dollar incentives for information about some of the government’s most senior military, intelligence and political figures.
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