US Offers $20 Million Reward for Iran Nuclear Intelligence as Regional Tensions Surge

واشنگتن، ۱۶ آبان (اوپا) — The U.S. military's Central Command announced Friday that the State Department's Rewards for Justice program is offering up to $20 million, including possible relocation, for information about Iran's nuclear program. Officials are specifically seeking details on facilities, equipment, and associated scientific personnel. The State Department cited International Atomic Energy Agency assessments indicating Iran's uranium stockpile includes material enriched to 60 percent purity, noting it is a short technical step away from weapons-grade 90 percent enrichment.

Concurrently, the U.S. Treasury Department coordinated with Canadian authorities to target several firms exchanging Iranian rials and cryptocurrencies to help Tehran evade sanctions. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that entities assisting Tehran's financial networks risk being held accountable. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to address these policies during a G7 foreign ministers meeting in France, his first post-midterm foreign trip following elections that shifted congressional control.

Regional friction intensified further as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have destroyed an American MQ-1 drone over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz. In the Persian Gulf, a Greek shipping firm reported that a crew member was killed Thursday in a suspected missile strike on the empty Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker MT Velos Sapphire as it sailed toward Bahrain. The vessel was subsequently brought to Khalifa Bin Salman Port.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement accused the Saudi-led coalition of killing or wounding dozens of civilians in airstrikes on a market in Taiz. The coalition countered that it intercepted ballistic missiles launched toward Najran and a drone in the Mecca region. The multi-front escalations continue to test international diplomacy as foreign ministers prepare to convene in Paris.