US places $10m bounty on Iran’s new Supreme Leader and IRGC high command

WEB DESK: The United States has authorised a reward of up to $10 million for information targeting Iran’s top military and intelligence hierarchy, including the recently installed Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

According to the State Department, the bounty focuses on ten key figures associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The move underscores Washington’s intensifying pressure on the clerical regime following the escalation of hostilities that began in late February.

Leadership under fire

The younger Khamenei reportedly succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, after the elder leader was killed in joint US and Israeli strikes on 28 February. While Mojtaba Khamenei issued a formal statement on Thursday, he has remained out of the public eye amid rumours that he was wounded during the initial bombardment.

Despite assertions from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that the Iranian leadership is “cowering” underground, state-verified footage recently showed security chief Ali Larijani and President Masoud Pezeshkian attending a public rally in Tehran. This defiance comes as the US seeks specific intelligence on Larijani, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, and several unnamed officials within the Supreme Leader’s inner circle.

Allegations of global terrorism

The State Department maintains that the targeted individuals direct IRGC elements responsible for “planning, organising, and executing terrorism around the world.” The US has long designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organisation, accusing the group of orchestrating plots against American citizens and high-ranking officials, including President Donald Trump.

Tehran has dismissed the reward programme as a “baseless political attack.” Iranian officials argue that Washington uses such designations to legitimise its “maximum pressure” campaign and economic sanctions. The IRGC, which was formed after the 1979 Revolution to protect the Shi’ite establishment, remains the primary focus of the American intelligence-gathering effort.