US Offers $10 Million Reward for Information on 3 Iranians over Hacking Scheme

This handout image provided by the State Department on September 14, 2022 shows the poster of Iranian cyber actors Ahmad Khatibi, Mansour Ahmadi, and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, wanted for their involvement in a coordinated campaign that compromised hundreds of computer networks across the United States and abroad. (Photo by Handout / US DEPARTMENT OF STATE / AFP)
This handout image provided by the State Department on September 14, 2022 shows the poster of Iranian cyber actors Ahmad Khatibi, Mansour Ahmadi, and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, wanted for their involvement in a coordinated campaign that compromised hundreds of computer networks across the United States and abroad. (Photo by Handout / US DEPARTMENT OF STATE / AFP)
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US Offers $10 Million Reward for Information on 3 Iranians over Hacking Scheme

This handout image provided by the State Department on September 14, 2022 shows the poster of Iranian cyber actors Ahmad Khatibi, Mansour Ahmadi, and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, wanted for their involvement in a coordinated campaign that compromised hundreds of computer networks across the United States and abroad. (Photo by Handout / US DEPARTMENT OF STATE / AFP)
This handout image provided by the State Department on September 14, 2022 shows the poster of Iranian cyber actors Ahmad Khatibi, Mansour Ahmadi, and Amir Hossein Nickaein Ravari, wanted for their involvement in a coordinated campaign that compromised hundreds of computer networks across the United States and abroad. (Photo by Handout / US DEPARTMENT OF STATE / AFP)

The State Department is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of three Iranians, who it said have worked for tech companies linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The Iranians have been charged with trying to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from organizations in the United States, Europe, Iran and Israel, including a domestic violence shelter, by hacking in to their computer systems, US officials said on Wednesday.

Other targets included local US governments, regional utilities in Mississippi and Indiana, accounting firms and a state lawyers' association, according to charges filed by the US Justice Department.

The defendants, named Mansour Ahmadi, Ahmad Khatibi and Amir Hossein Nikaein, are citizens of Iran who own or are employed by private technology companies in the country.

The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the three Iranians, as well as several other individuals and two organizations they said were part of Tehran's "malicious" cyber and ransomware activity.

“The government of Iran has created a safe haven where cybercriminals acting for personal gain flourish and defendants like these are able to hack and extort victims, including critical infrastructure providers,” said Matthew G. Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s national security division.

The men remain at large in Iran, and prosecutors said they were highly unlikely to face trial in the United States. Officials said they hoped that by exposing the group, they might prevent future attacks.



Armenian Prime Minister Meets Erdogan in Rare Visit to Türkiye Aimed at Mending Ties

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
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Armenian Prime Minister Meets Erdogan in Rare Visit to Türkiye Aimed at Mending Ties

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Presidential Press Office shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C-R) and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (C-L) posing before their meeting in Istanbul, Türkiye, 20 June 2025. (EPA/ Turkish Presidential Press Office)

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday as part of the two countries' efforts to normalize ties that were strained over historic disputes and Türkiye’s alliance with Azerbaijan.

The talks between the two countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties, were expected to center on the possible reopening of their joint border as well as the war between Israel and Iran.

Türkiye, a close ally of Azerbaijan, shut down its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Baku, which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 2020, Türkiye strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of the region.

Türkiye and Armenia also have a more than century-old dispute over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Türkiye.

Historians widely view the event as genocide. Türkiye vehemently rejects the label, conceding that many died in that era but insisting that the death toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civil unrest.

The rare visit by an Armenian leader comes after Ankara and Yerevan agreed in 2021 to launch efforts toward normalizing ties and appointed special representatives to lead talks.

Pashinyan previously visited Türkiye in 2023 when he attended a presidential inauguration ceremony following an election victory by Erdogan. The two have also held talks on the sideline of a meeting in Prague in 2022.

It is Ankara and Yerevan’s second attempt at reconciliation. Türkiye and Armenia reached an agreement in 2009 to establish formal relations and to open their border, but the deal was never ratified because of strong opposition from Azerbaijan.