In a decisive escalation of its multifaceted containment strategy against Tehran, the United States has launched a severe financial and legal offensive designed to paralyze the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) sprawling military apparatus. On Friday, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a bounty of up to $15 million for actionable intelligence aimed at dismantling the financial pipelines of the IRGC's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) production network.
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| An Iranian drone and an Iranian missile system are displayed in Azadi Square in Tehran, Iran, on July 30, 2026. (Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters) |
The primary target of this sweeping bounty is Kimia Part Sivan (KIPAS), an Iranian-based enterprise identified by U.S. officials as a critical arm of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force responsible for UAV manufacturing. KIPAS is deeply embedded in Tehran's drone proliferation, conducting flight tests, procuring foreign components, and providing crucial technical support for UAVs deployed to Iraqi theaters. Consequently, the State Department explicitly named six KIPAS officials—Hasan Arambunezhad, Abolfazl Ramazanzadeh Moshkani, Mehdi Ghaffari Naghneh, Reza Nahar Dani, Abbas Sartaji, and Hadi Jamshidi Zavaraki—who were previously sanctioned by the Treasury Department in April 2024 for operating on behalf of the Quds Force.
Washington asserts that the lucrative revenue generated from Iran’s arms and drone sales, most notably to Russia, is directly funneled to bankroll the IRGC and its network of destabilizing regional proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and various Iraqi militias. Complementing this targeted disruption is a broader, devastating macroeconomic siege dubbed "Operation Economic Fury," a strategic pivot from "Operation Epic Fury" initiated in March 2025 under President Donald Trump’s directive to squeeze the Iranian regime's global financial network.
During a cabinet meeting at Camp David, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent detailed the catastrophic toll of this campaign: by December 2025, Iran's largest bank had collapsed, forcing its Central Bank to aggressively print currency, triggering hyperinflation that reached an astonishing 180%, and leaving the regime utterly incapable of paying its military personnel. Bessent further declared that the U.S. is aggressively tracking and seizing Iranian sovereign assets worldwide. In a profound gesture of restorative justice, Washington plans to redirect these confiscated funds back to the Iranian people and use them to financially compensate American victims of terrorism linked to Iran.
This compensation encompasses survivors and families affected by recent regional maritime attacks, as well as historic atrocities such as the 1983 Beirut marine barracks truck bombing, which killed 241 American servicemen and was orchestrated by Iran-backed Hezbollah under the guise of Islamic Jihad. Furthermore, the seized assets will provide restitution for the 2000 USS Cole bombing—a devastating suicide attack that resulted in 40 U.S. military fatalities and 40 injuries, which the FBI concluded was executed by al-Qaeda.
Compiled by Tyler A. Nguyen
Community Insights