The United States is offering a reward of up to $20 million, along with possible relocation, for information about Iran's nuclear programme, the American military announced on Friday, in a move that adds a financial-intelligence front to a war now in its ninth month. The offer covers Iran's nuclear facilities, its equipment and the people who work on the programme, including scientists, as well as the movement of any of them.
United States Central Command announced the offer in a post on X on Friday. The reward is being made through the State Department's Rewards for Justice programme, which pays for information that protects American lives and interests. The programme's notice was published in Persian as well as English, and tips can be sent through several channels, including an encrypted messaging line and a Tor-based website.
The notice seeks information about Iran's nuclear "facilities, equipment, and associated personnel, such as those in the scientific community, or the movement of any of the above", according to the wording carried by Central Command. The announcement did not say what kind of information would qualify for the full $20 million, and the amount is a ceiling rather than a fixed payment.
The State Department set out the case behind the offer in its statement. It said Iran's failure to comply with its safeguards obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, had caused the agency to lose "continuity of knowledge" about Iran's production and inventory of key components, including centrifuges. In other words, Washington is arguing that the inspectors no longer have a reliable picture of what Iran's nuclear infrastructure holds or produces.
The Rewards for Justice programme was established in 1984 as part of the State Department's national security rewards initiative. It has long paid for tips on terrorism, foreign interference in American elections and cyberattacks on the United States, but this is the first of its rewards aimed squarely at a country's nuclear programme rather than at a named person or a group's finances.
The figures behind the dispute are stark. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2025 that Iran was enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity, a short technical step from the 90 per cent needed for a weapon. The agency has said Iran holds 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent. Iran has maintained throughout that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
The reward was announced on a day of fresh military action and renewed diplomacy. President Donald Trump said on Friday night in West Palm Beach, Florida, that Tehran wanted an agreement to end the conflict. "We're dealing with them now. They want to make a deal very badly," he said. He also defended the American military campaign, saying: "If we didn't hit Iran, you wouldn't have Israel today. If they had nuclear, they would have used nuclear. They would have obliterated the Middle East."
Trump has repeatedly claimed that American forces have effectively destroyed Iran's nuclear programme, while adding that one or two targets remain. Earlier this week he said he still had to "take care" of targets including the so-called Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran, a suspected nuclear site that Tehran denies is a nuclear facility. On Friday he said the American military had carried out fresh, limited strikes on Iran, targeting its air defence systems, which he described as "minor", saying an Iranian anti-aircraft device had been knocked out within minutes. Iranian state media reported hearing two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which lies in the Strait of Hormuz.
Friday's strikes were the first since Trump's Republican Party suffered a setback in Tuesday's midterm elections, losing both chambers of Congress. Diplomatic efforts have continued in parallel. Two Middle East government officials told the Associated Press on Friday that Iran was reviewing proposals presented by Qatar, the chief mediator, to address differences with Washington over Tehran's nuclear programme.
The reported proposals are built around a two-day set of trust-building measures. On the first day, the United States would lift its blockade on Iran's ports and release some of Tehran's frozen funds, in exchange for allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit sites bombed by the United States and Israel. On the second day, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz under a modified arrangement reached with Oman but not approved by the United States. That would be a temporary measure until a permanent agreement on the waterway could be reached with other Gulf countries, after which the two sides would begin broader negotiations covering Tehran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium and other aspects of its nuclear programme.
Iran, however, has been unwilling to enter negotiations on its nuclear activities until the United States agrees to several conditions demanded by Tehran as part of a ceasefire agreement. Those demands include an end to the American blockade, the lifting of sanctions, the unfreezing of its assets, compensation for war damage and an end to hostilities across the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier this week that his government was still trying to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Diplomatic contacts have intensified in recent days. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke to his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, on Friday about developments in the region, and Trump spoke to Qatar's emir about efforts to de-escalate tensions. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate calls with his Iraqi and Tunisian counterparts, while Egypt's foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, called for flexibility from both sides to reach a compromise and prevent another escalation.
Whether the reward produces useful information remains to be seen, and it is not clear how many people inside Iran's nuclear establishment could safely pass on what they know. What is clear is that Washington is now pursuing the nuclear question on two tracks at once: offering money for secrets while mediators in Doha try to build a deal that would let inspectors back in. If the Qatari proposals move forward, the reward may prove to be a footnote; if talks stall, it could become one more pressure point in a war that has already lasted eight months.
