On the anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover in Tehran, the Trump administration slapped new sanctions Monday on the core inner circle of advisers to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and announced a $20 million reward for information on a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran 12 years ago.
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The sanctions target some of Khamenei's closest advisers, including his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, who often represents his father at official functions even though he has never been appointed to a government position, U.S. officials said.
Other prominent officials sanctioned include Ebrahim Raisi, the newly-appointed head of Iran's judiciary, and Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani, the supreme leader's chief of staff. The list also includes an adviser who arranged credit lines for oil shipments to the Syrian government, and the head of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, the top military body in Iran.
As if to underscore the long history of conflict between the United States and Iran, the Treasury Department also sanctioned Hossein Dehghan, one of Khamenei's military aides, who was a commander in Lebanon during the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 service members.
"Today's anniversary is a reminder that we are dealing today with the same regime that sprang up 40 years ago, the same regime our diplomats encountered so long ago," said a senior administration official, referring to the 1979 student takeover of the U.S. Embassy in which more than 50 diplomats and military guards were held captive for 444 days.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to speak out Monday afternoon against Iran's activities in the region when he addresses a State Department commemoration of the embassy siege.
In a statement, Pompeo called for the release of all missing and wrongfully detained Americans, and harked back to the embassy seizure.
"Forty years later, the revolutionary regime in Tehran has proven, time and again, that its first acts after gaining power were a clear indication of its evil character," he said. "The regime continues to unjustly detain Americans and to support terrorist proxy groups like Hizballah that engage in hostage taking."
The State Department announced a $20 million addition to a reward for information on the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who vanished during a 2007 visit to Kish Island in Iran. The $20 million is on top of a $5 million FBI reward already in place.
His family issued a statement pleading with the government in Tehran to end hostage-taking.
"This sends a clear message from our government of how important it is that Bob Levinson be returned to his family and friends who love him," the statement said. "All the Iranian authorities need to do is send him home."
Another Trump administration official called on the Iranian government to renounce hostage-taking and release all foreigners unjustly imprisoned in Iran. At least five Americans are believed to have been imprisoned on accusations of espionage that their families and colleagues consider baseless.
In a background call with reporters, U.S. officials repeatedly made derogatory remarks about the Iranian regime, calling the leaders "self-appointed revolutionaries."
"Iran's so-called democracy is a sham," one official said. "The power lies in the supreme leader and a shadowy network of appointees."
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been escalating rapidly since President Donald Trump withdrew last year from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. They have spiraled upward particularly in recent months, as sanctions have been reimposed and Iran has reacted by appearing to test Washington's resolve. Iran has downed a U.S. drone in the Persian Gulf, and the administration has blamed it for attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
In Tehran, new anti-American graffiti has appeared on the wall around the former U.S. embassy, now turned into a museum for a paramilitary militia.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the sanctions make the administration's maximum pressure campaign against Iran about something more than economics.
“These designations reveal that Iran’s oppressive apparatus is much more than just one man,” he said. “It’s a constellation of military and political officials who faithfully carry out Khamenei’s orders.”