The Trump administration introduced a US$10 million reward on March 15, 2026, for info resulting in the seize of a number of senior Iranian figures.
While two of these leaders have since been killed by Israeli strikes, they are included right here to supply a extra full image of Iran’s highly effective elite – individuals deeply embedded in the Islamic Republic’s political, intelligence and safety structure.
As an international affairs scholar, I do know their careers mirror the institutional pillars of the regime – clerical authority, intelligence coordination, navy energy – and assist clarify why they are thought of high-value targets.
Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei
The son of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike in February 2026, Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, was chosen as Iran’s new supreme leader in early March.
Long considered as a highly effective behind-the-scenes figure, he operated inside his father’s inside circle. He has cultivated robust relationships with Iran’s security and intelligence institutions and earned a repute as a political fixer and enforcer.
Despite by no means holding formal elected or senior appointed workplace, Khamenei had been extensively perceived as a potential successor to his father. Such a transition would have been controversial underneath regular circumstances, given his lack of expertise and the ideological sensitivity round hereditary succession in a system born from anti-monarchical revolution.
Khamenei has additionally been linked to political controversies. During the 2005 presidential election, reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi accused him of involvement in electoral manipulation. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later alleged that Khamenei engaged in financial misconduct.
Public opposition to his perceived rise was seen throughout the 2022–23 protests, when demonstrators explicitly rejected the prospect of his management by shouting “Mojtaba, may you die and never see leadership.”
Seyyed Ali-Asghar (Mir) Hejazi
A cleric with long-standing ties to Iran’s intelligence equipment, Seyyed Ali-Asghar Hejazi had been among the closest aides to Ali Khamenei. He started his political profession in 1980 as half of a “purification committee” tasked with firing perceived opponents from state establishments in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Hejazi later served as deputy for international affairs in the Ministry of Intelligence in the early Eighties and, extra just lately, as deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Supreme Leader. In this position, he has functioned as a key middleman between numerous branches of authorities in addition to spiritual and political personalities – transmitting Khamenei’s directives, shaping high-level coverage and coordinating Iran’s advanced intelligence and safety networks.
He was (*6*) in 2013 for alleged human rights violations, together with involvement in the suppression of the 2009 Green Movement, and by the European Union in 2019. He apparently survived an Israeli attack on March 6, 2026.
Seyyed Esmail Khatib
Seyyed Esmail Khatib, 64, who was killed on March 18, 2026, had constructed his profession inside Iran’s intelligence and safety institution. He joined intelligence operations linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in 1980 and was wounded during the Iran–Iraq War.
Following the struggle, this cleric held a sequence of senior intelligence roles, together with director normal of intelligence for Qom province, beginning in 1991. He additionally held positions inside the supreme leader’s security office from 2009–11 and was head of the judiciary’s Protection and Intelligence Center, a counterintelligence physique inside Iran’s judiciary, from 2012–19. He later served as a senior official inside Astan Quds Razavi, a main spiritual and financial conglomerate managed instantly by Iran’s supreme chief.
Sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2020 for alleged human rights abuses, Khatib turned Iran’s minister of intelligence in 2021.
Ali Larijani
Ali Larijani, who was assassinated on March 17, 2026, was one of the Islamic Republic’s most skilled political insiders. Born into a outstanding clerical household, he rose by means of each navy and civilian establishments, starting with roles linked to the Revolutionary Guard in the early Eighties.
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Over the a long time, Larijani, 68, held quite a few senior positions. Those embrace minister of tradition from 1992–94 and head of state broadcasting from 1994–2004. He was additionally secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 2004–08 and once more from 2025–26. Larijani additionally served as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator from 2005-07.
From early January 2026, and extra clearly following the Feb. 28 killing of Ayatollah Khamenei, Larijani emerged as a central decision-maker inside the system earlier than his dying.
Brig. Gen. Eskandar Momeni
A Revolutionary Guard-affiliated safety official, Eskandar Momeni, 64, is a veteran of the Iran–Iraq War and took part in counterinsurgency operations towards leftist teams in northern Iran.
He later held a vary of senior regulation enforcement roles, together with head of the Police Emergency Center, a dispatch heart that directs emergency response items, from 2004–05, deputy for operations of the nationwide police from 2005–08, and chief of visitors police from 2009–14. He additionally holds a doctorate in national security.
As deputy commander of Iran’s Law Enforcement Force, answerable for public safety, from 2015–18, Momeni oversaw safety responses throughout the 2017-18 protests, which had been met with pressure. Since becoming minister of interior in August 2024, he has remained a central determine in home safety coverage, together with the deadly response to unrest in early 2026 wherein an estimated 7,000 to 30,000 Iranians were killed.
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Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi
A senior Revolutionary Guard commander and longtime navy strategist, Yahya Rahim Safavi, 73, obtained navy coaching in Syria previous to the 1979 revolution and later turned a key determine throughout the Iran–Iraq War.
He served as commander of the Revolutionary Guard floor forces, from 1985–89, deputy commander in chief from 1989–97 and commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard from 1997–2007. During his tenure, he reportedly additionally earned a Ph.D. in geography.
In December 2006, the U.N. Security Council put Safavi on its sanctions list for his involvement in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile applications. After stepping down as Revolutionary Guard commander, Safavi was appointed senior navy adviser to the supreme chief and remains to be serving in that position. He stays underneath U.S. sanctions.