The US is offering ordinary Iranians a $10 million reward to help them track down the regime’s hardline leaders.
The US State Department issued a Most Wanted poster, featuring the new Supreme Leader and his top henchmen, urging Iranians to make contact via encrypted social media channels.
As well as the reward – equivalent to £7.5 million – there will be an opportunity for informers to relocate to the US, says the notice, which was posted on the department’s website and across social media.
The move carried echoes of the infamous ‘deck of cards’ the Americans issued during the 2003 hunt for Saddam Hussein in the Iraq War. The US Defence Intelligence Agency mocked up playing cards with the names and images of Saddam – the ace of spades – and 51 of his henchmen.
The latest poster was issued after Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed Supreme Leader on Monday, issued a defiant statement to the Iranian media, urging Arab neighbours to close down their US bases.
So far the US is thought to have killed up to 49 senior figures in the Iranian regime through air strikes.
The State Department described the ten figures as key leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which crushes dissent within Iran.
The IRGC is accused of massacring more than 36,500 Iranians in January during nationwide protests against the regime.
The US State Department have released a ‘most wanted’ list showing ten hardliners of the Iranian regime they are pursuing
In a statement accompanying the poster, the US said: ‘These individuals command and direct various elements of the IRGC, which plans, organises and executes terrorism around the world.
‘The IRGC is responsible for numerous attacks targeting Americans and US facilities, including those that have killed US citizens.’
It has been widely reported that Khamenei, 56, was injured in US-Israeli attacks that killed his father, the then Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, three weeks ago. He is believed to be recovering at the Sina University Hospital in Tehran.
On Friday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said: ‘We know the new so-called, not so supreme, leader is wounded and likely disfigured. His father – dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy.’
The Americans have dubbed him a ‘dead man walking.’
Among the nine other figures that now have a bounty on their heads are Ali Larijani, the Secretary in the Supreme National Security Council, previously a speaker in Iran’s parliament.
A former soldier, Larijani is thought to be one of the architects of the Iranian regime’s response to the US-Israeli military strikes.
This has included barrages of thousands of drones and ballistic missiles aimed at Israel and Iran’s Arab neighbours, and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which has raised oil prices around the world. After Ali Khamenei’s assassination, Larijani wrote: ‘America and the Zionist regime [Israel] have set the heart of the Iranian nation ablaze. We will burn their hearts.
Mojtaba Khamenei (pictured in May 2019) is on the list, although sources suggest Iran’s new Supreme Leader may be in a coma in hospital following a US-Israeli strike
‘We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions.’ He was seen on the streets of Tehran at a pro-regime rally only hours before the Most Wanted poster was issued.
Another is Ali Asghar Hejazi, the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Supreme Leader’s Office, who served under Ali Khamenei and is believed to have retained his position. He is one of the most influential figures in the Iranian regime, and was touted to become Ali Khamenei’s successors.
But in a move that suggests the US intelligence is lacking, there are four individuals who are not named. The positions are given, with a silhouette instead of photos.
They include the ‘Secretary of the Defence Council’, ‘Military Office Chief Supreme Leader’s Office’ and ‘IRGC Commander’.
It is believed that the previous holders of these roles have been killed in the US-Israeli air strikes, and the identities of the new appointees are not known yet.
Any information leading to their location is unlikely to result in their capture, since there are no US boots on the ground in Iran. The data is more likely to lead to air strikes against them.
The Americans have dubbed Khamenei a ‘dead man walking.’
Pictured: Ali Asghar Hejazi, deputy chief of staff for the Supreme Leader’s office, is another of the Mullah’s henchmen sought by US forces
Russia and China supporting our war effort, says Iranian minister
By Mark Nicol
Iran finally admitted last night that it is receiving military support from Russia and China.
Top American officials had claimed that Russia was behind Iran’s knowledge of sensitive intelligence, such as the precise locations of US warships, but this was reportedly denied by Vladimir Putin during a call with President Donald Trump.
But Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has now labelled both Russia and China ‘strategic partners’.
And when asked whether they were providing military support and intelligence, he replied:
‘We have had close co-operation [with Russia and China] in the past, which is still continuous, and that includes military co-operation. But I’m not going into any details of that.’
Much of the alleged shared information has been imagery from Moscow’s complex constellation of satellites, a source said.
While it is not clear whether any single Iranian assault can be linked to Russian targeting intelligence, several drone strikes have hit US troops in recent days.
Reports also claim that the US has obtained intelligence which suggests China may soon provide Iran with financial assistance, spare parts for military vehicles and missile components.
It was last week alleged that the state-of-the-art Chinese spy ship Liaowang-1 was seen in the Strait of Hormuz.
One specialist has previously called the vessel a ‘floating supercomputer… to map the invisible battlefield’.
China relies heavily on Iranian oil and has reportedly been pressuring Tehran to allow safe passage for vessels through the Strait.
One source has said China wants the war to end because it ‘endangers its energy supply’.