U.S. Offers Up to $10 Million for Iran’s New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Senior IRGC / Security Officials Including Ali Larijani
The U.S. State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for credible information related to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and senior IRGC/security officials — Fox News names targets including Ali Asghar Hejazi, Ali Larijani, Yahya Rahim Safavi, Esmail Khatib and Eskandar Momeni — framing the move as part of counterterrorism efforts. U.S. intelligence circulated that the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei doubted his son’s suitability and U.S. officials have suggested Mojtaba may be wounded or dead and that the IRGC is effectively in control, while Israel has separately claimed it killed Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholam Reza Soleimani in recent strikes.
📌 Key Facts
- The U.S. Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $10 million for credible information related to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and senior IRGC/security officials, framed as a counterterrorism effort tied to IRGC-linked terrorist activity.
- The State Department and related U.S. materials characterize the IRGC as using terrorism as a tool of statecraft and being responsible for attacks that killed U.S. citizens, which underpins the legal/counterterrorism basis for the reward offer.
- Fox News explicitly names specific targets of the reward: Ali Asghar Hejazi (deputy chief of staff for the Supreme Leader’s Office), Ali Larijani (secretary of the Supreme National Security Council), Yahya Rahim Safavi (top military adviser), Esmail Khatib (intelligence minister), and Eskandar Momeni (interior minister).
- U.S. intelligence circulated to President Trump and senior officials concluded the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had misgivings about his son Mojtaba’s fitness to lead and was aware of unspecified personal-life issues involving Mojtaba.
- Senior U.S. officials have been briefed that the IRGC is effectively calling the shots in Iran and that the country is, in practice, without a stable, unified leader.
- President Trump has publicly criticized Mojtaba Khamenei as a “lightweight” and “unacceptable” leader, and was privately told by some that Mojtaba may be dead.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Mojtaba Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured,” though his precise condition remains unclear.
- Israeli officials announced that Israeli strikes killed top Iranian security officials, including Ali Larijani and Gholam Reza Soleimani (commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij), and characterized the operations as deliberate, targeted attacks on Iran’s senior security leadership.
📊 Relevant Data
Iran's ethnic composition includes Persians at approximately 61% of the population, Azerbaijanis at 16%, Kurds at 10%, Lurs at 6%, Baloch at 2%, Arabs at 2%, and other groups at 3%.
A simple visual guide to Iran and its people — Al Jazeera
US sanctions on Iran have contributed to economic hardships, including a fall in revenues, devaluation of the national currency, increased inflation, and rising unemployment, which are key drivers of mass emigration.
Since the 12-day war in 2026, Iran's crackdown on ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds and Baluchis, has intensified, with these groups facing disproportionate repression in peripheral regions.
Punishing Vulnerability: Iran's Minority Crackdown After the 12-Day War — Newlines Institute
International economic sanctions since 2012 have significantly reduced the size of Iran's middle class, both directly and through adverse effects on economic growth, leading to increased emigration among urban professionals.
Sanctions and the shrinking size of Iran's middle class — The Forum - ERF
In 2021, approximately 4,037,258 Iranians were living abroad, with ongoing elite emigration ranking Iran first among 91 countries in brain drain, driven by economic pressures from sanctions.
Iranian diaspora — Wikipedia
📰 Source Timeline (4)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly stated that the Israeli military killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in an overnight strike.
- The Israeli military also announced it killed Gholam Reza Soleimani, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij paramilitary force, in the same round of strikes.
- These kills were announced from Jerusalem and framed as deliberate, targeted operations against top‑tier Iranian security leadership.
- U.S. intelligence circulated to President Trump and a small circle concludes the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had misgivings about his son Mojtaba becoming supreme leader, viewing him as not very bright and unqualified.
- The same intelligence indicates Ali Khamenei was aware of unspecified personal-life issues involving Mojtaba.
- Trump, JD Vance and other senior officials have been briefed that the White House now believes the IRGC is effectively calling the shots and that Iran is essentially leaderless, with Trump privately saying Mojtaba may be dead.
- In a Fox News interview Friday, Trump publicly hinted that Mojtaba was not the successor his father wanted, and has called him a “lightweight” and an “unacceptable” leader for Iran.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Mojtaba Khamenei is “wounded and likely disfigured,” though his precise condition is unclear.
- Fox explicitly names Ali Asghar Hejazi as deputy chief of staff for the Supreme Leader’s Office, Ali Larijani as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Yahya Rahim Safavi as a top military adviser, Esmail Khatib as intelligence minister, and Eskandar Momeni as interior minister, confirming them as specific targets of the reward.
- The article reiterates that the reward is framed as an effort to gather intelligence on the IRGC and its leadership, which the State Department accuses of using terrorism as a tool of statecraft and being responsible for attacks that killed U.S. citizens.
- It emphasizes that Rewards for Justice will pay up to $10 million for credible information related to these figures and IRGC-linked terrorist activity, underscoring the counterterrorism legal basis of the offer.