U.S. offers up to $10 million reward for information on Iranian regime leaders

The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information on Iranian regime leaders. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on March 13, the program urged tips that could help identify those behind state-backed actions and could include relocation assistance for informants.

The post named ten Iranian regime figures for information, including Mojtaba Khamenei and Ali Larijani, with Larijani identified as the secretary-general of the Supreme National Security Council. It also listed Ali Asghar Hejazi as a former deputy secretary to the Supreme Leader’s office, Yahya Rahim Safavi as a senior military adviser to the Supreme Leader, Esma’il Hatib as the minister of intelligence, and Eskandar Momeni as the interior minister. Four other individuals were identified only by their positions, without names, including the secretary-general of the SNSC, the Supreme Leader’s military chief, the IRGC commander, and four senior advisers to the Supreme Leader.

In addition to the named figures, the post indicated that information about other core Revolutionary Guards leadership figures could also be provided. The announcement thus framed a broad set of targets across Iran’s security and governance apparatus.

The report notes Mojtaba Khamenei, described in the piece as the Supreme Leader’s son, who, according to the text, had not appeared in public since his election on March 8. It adds that he issued a first public statement on March 12, which was read by a state broadcaster.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is quoted as saying that the new Iranian leader might be significantly disfigured, a claim that the article says the United States and Israel have not confirmed with independent verification. The exact status and reliability of those details remain unclear.

For U.S. readers, this matters because leadership changes inside Iran can influence the country’s nuclear diplomacy, regional security posture, and compliance with or deviation from international sanctions. Iran’s leadership structure, including the Supreme Leader, the SNSC, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, shapes Iran’s foreign policy, military posture, and responses to American policy, with potential ripple effects on Middle East stability, defense planning, and energy markets.

The Rewards for Justice program, run by the U.S. State Department, is a long-standing tool to deter and disrupt terrorism and illicit activities by offering monetary rewards for information leading to the disruption of such actors. The inclusion of prominent Iranian officials in this latest listing underscores ongoing U.S. attention to Iran’s security leadership and the potential implications for both diplomacy and regional risk.