The US has offered a reward of $10 million for information on 10 IRGC officials, including Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Mujtaba became Supreme Leader after the death of Ali Khamenei in an attack.
Washington: America has announced a big reward for anyone providing information about the new Supreme Leader of Iran and other senior officials. America will give a reward of 10 million dollars (about Rs 93 crore) for information about several senior military and intelligence officials including Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei. According to the US State Department website, ten officers associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been targeted through this reward. The IRGC is a special military group that was created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It is directly loyal to the Supreme Leader and its job is to protect the rule of Shia clerics.
Mojtaba Khamenei became the Supreme Leader of Iran after a joint US-Israeli air strike on February 28. Ali Khamenei and many other senior officials of Iran were killed in this attack. It is believed that Mujtaba Khamenei was also injured in this attack and since then he has not been seen in front of anyone. However, on Thursday he issued his first statement. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has even claimed that Mujtaba is injured and perhaps his face is also disfigured.
America is searching for the location of Iran’s top officials
Apart from the Supreme Leader, the US also wants information about Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib, Interior Minister Iskander Momenei and two officials from Khamenei’s office. The US Defense Secretary had claimed that Iran’s leadership was hiding in underground bunkers out of fear. But on Friday, video footage of a rally in Tehran emerged, in which Ali Larijani was seen with President Massoud Peseshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. News agencies like Reuters have also confirmed these footage.
Information about four more officials has also been sought on the website, including an IRGC commander and the Secretary of the Defense Council. However, their names or photographs have not been released. The State Department claims that these people run the wings of IRGC, which plan and carry out terrorist activities around the world. America has said that apart from the reward, those providing information will also be helped in settling at a safe place.
America has declared IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The US alleges that this organization is responsible for attacks that have caused the deaths of American citizens. Washington also alleges that Iran plotted to assassinate President Donald Trump and other US officials in revenge for the 2020 killing of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.