US offers $15 million reward for info on IRGC oil shipments, facilitators

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US Department of State on Tuesday announced a reward of up to $15 million for information on oil shipments linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its facilitators. The move comes a day after Washington said it was “intensifying pressure” on the IRGC by sanctioning its oil shipment and sales arm.

The Department’s Rewards for Justice Program issued a statement titled “Reward of up to $15 million for information on IRGC oil sales,” noting that the IRGC “generates revenue for its activities through various illicit operations, including the sale and shipment of sanctioned Iranian oil.”

It added, “If you have information about the IRGC’s oil shipments, the tankers or entities involved in such illicit oil transfers, or related activities or individuals, contact us. Your information could make you eligible for a reward and relocation.”

A day earlier, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a Monday statement that the administration of President Donald Trump is “intensifying pressure” on the IRGC by “targeting the financial networks that enable its illicit oil operations.”

He said the US is sanctioning “a network involved in selling and shipping Iranian oil to overseas buyers on behalf of the IRGC.” as well as “three senior officials from the IRGC’s Shahid Purja’fari Oil Headquarters who coordinate these transactions.”
The Shahid Purja’fari Oil Headquarters is an IRGC-affiliated unit responsible for managing and coordinating the shipment and sale of Iranian oil.

Pigott added that the sanctions aim to disrupt IRGC oil operations, which he said “finance Iran’s support for terrorist proxies and regional aggression,” describing them as an “additional round of sanctions under Economic Fury” against Tehran.

The US launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, a joint aerial campaign with Israel against Iran, striking more than 17,000 sites over six weeks before a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire was agreed on April 8.

While the first round of talks concluded without a final agreement on April 11, a second round has yet to take place, with a comprehensive resolution to the conflict still pending.

The US in mid-April launched the high-intensity Economic Fury campaign as the financial counterpart to Operation Epic Fury against Iran, aiming to isolate Tehran from the global financial system and cut off its remaining revenue streams.