US State Department offers $10M bounty on Iran’s Amir Yaryab

The US State Department just placed a $10 million reward on information leading to the identification or location of Amir Yaryab, a senior official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who allegedly oversees the cyber units responsible for attacking American critical infrastructure. The bounty, issued through the Rewards for Justice program, makes Yaryab one of the most wanted cyber operatives on Washington’s radar.

Yaryab leads the IRGC Cyber-Electronic Command’s (IRGC-CEC) Cyber Operations Command, which sits at the top of a network of state-directed hacking groups that have been linked to attacks on defense systems, energy grids, financial networks, and telecommunications across the US, Europe, and the Middle East.

Who is Amir Yaryab

The groups under Yaryab’s umbrella read like a roster of Washington’s least favorite threat actors. His command encompasses operations run by Shahid Hemmat and Shahid Shushtari, two units within the IRGC-CEC structure. He also oversees affiliated cyber entities including CyberAv3ngers and Dadeh Afzar Arman (DAA), both of which have been implicated in numerous cyber operations targeting critical sectors.

CyberAv3ngers, in particular, has drawn significant attention from US cybersecurity agencies. The group’s operations have targeted industrial control systems and critical infrastructure.

The Rewards for Justice program frames this bounty under authorities designed to counteract foreign-directed cyber operations deemed malicious under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

A pattern of escalation

Yaryab’s bounty doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s part of a broader pattern in 2026 where multiple $10 million rewards have been issued for various IRGC leaders connected to cyber threats. Similar announcements targeting senior IRGC figures associated with cyber operations were made in both March and August of this year.

The Rewards for Justice program itself has evolved considerably from its origins. Historically, the program focused on counterterrorism and drug trafficking, offering rewards for information on figures like al-Qaeda operatives or cartel kingpins. Its expansion into cybersecurity reflects how central digital threats have become to US national security strategy.

The geopolitical backdrop

The timing of these bounties maps onto a period of elevated US-Iran tensions that extends well beyond the cyber domain. Nuclear negotiations, regional proxy conflicts, and sanctions enforcement all contribute to a relationship where cyber operations serve as both an instrument of statecraft and a pressure release valve.

For the US, the bounty approach serves multiple purposes simultaneously. It puts personal pressure on commanders who might otherwise operate with a sense of anonymity and impunity. It incentivizes insiders, defectors, or intelligence services in third countries to share information. And it sends a public message that the US considers these operations serious enough to assign a dollar figure to stopping them.

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