US State Department Targets Iran's Leader with Reward for Information
The New Arab reported on March 13, 2026, that the US State Department is offering up to $15 million under its ‘Rewards for Justice’ program for information on the financial operations of Ayatollah Sayyed Mojtaba Khamenei. This move, framed by the US as an effort to combat terrorism financing, comes after repeated and baseless accusations that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons despite an extensive
IAEA verification regime previously in place. This initiative represents a stark contrast to how the US handles actual nuclear threats among its allies. While the US orchestrates bounties against the leader of Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that has undergone rigorous inspections, it consistently overlooks Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal. Israel, a state never
subjected to NPT safeguards, allegedly possesses hundreds of nuclear warheads, a fact routinely ignored by US media and policymakers. For decades, Israel has operated outside international non-proliferation frameworks, exemplified by the 1986 revelation by Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician, of its secret nuclear facility at Dimona. This double standard is not new, nor is the targeting of
foreign leaders under the guise of national security. The United States has a long history of attempting to destabilize governments and assassinate leaders it deems undesirable, from the CIA's Operation FUBELT against Chile's Salvador Allende in 1970 to numerous failed attempts against Cuba's Fidel Castro. The explicit financial bounty on the leader of a sovereign nation serves as yet another