US offers $10-million reward for info on top Iran leaders

WASHINGTON, United States — The US State Department offered a $10 million reward on Friday for information about Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and other top officials.

In addition to the supreme leader, the US is seeking information about Iran's security chief Ali Larijani, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and two officials in Khamenei's office.

Larijani appeared Friday in videos verified by Reuters alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attending a rally in Tehran, despite an assertion by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Iran's leadership was "cowering" underground.

The reward website also lists four other officials, including the IRGC commander and secretary of the defense council, but doesn't include their names or photos.

"These individuals command and direct various elements of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which plans, organizes and executes terrorism around the world," the State Department said.

It urged tipsters to send information via Tor or Signal and said "your information could make you eligible for relocation and a reward."

The State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program offers cash for intelligence leading to the capture or prosecution of wanted individuals.

Mojtaba Khamenei recently succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, as Iran's supreme leader after the elder Khamenei was killed along with several other top Iranian officials in joint US and Israeli strikes that began on February 28. The younger Khamenei, believed to have been injured in the strikes, hasn't been seen publicly since, although he released his first statement on Thursday.

The Revolutionary Guards could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday — the weekly day of rest in Iran. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US has designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing it of being responsible for attacks that have killed US citizens. Washington has also accused Iran of orchestrating assassination plots against President Donald Trump and other US officials in retaliation for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

Iran denies being a sponsor of terrorism. Iranian officials routinely dismiss US terrorism allegations as baseless political attacks, arguing Washington raises such claims to justify pressure campaigns or sanctions. — Agence France-Presse/Reuters