Tehran has escalated its rhetoric against the American president’s family to a new extreme level, with Iranian state television broadcasting a video that directly targets Donald Trump ‘s youngest son, Barron , and offering a $10 million reward to anyone who approaches him.
The footage, lasting about three minutes , was broadcast by state-run Channel 3 and reproduced by media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) , while it was widely disseminated through anti-regime platforms.
It presents, with heavily edited graphics, alleged monitoring of the movements of the son of the American president, recording his digital footprint on social networking and online gaming platforms, as well as an attempt to map his social environment and identify weaknesses in the security measures of the American Secret Service . The video concludes with a direct threat to the young man.
It is, however, crucial to note that the operational claims in the video have not been confirmed . Iran International , which first aired the footage, explicitly stated that it was unable to cross-check them, noting that the video relies heavily on dramatized graphics and provides no evidence that any outreach attempt actually took place.
Similar reservations were expressed by Euronews and the Jerusalem Post , which did not even locate the original video on Channel 3’s official platforms. The very existence of the “bounty” has not been independently confirmed, while parts of the material are said to have been produced with artificial intelligence .
The Secret Service said it is aware of the threatening material and is investigating any threats to its protected individuals. Barron Trump enjoys full protection, as is provided for members of the immediate family of a sitting president, while measures surrounding the presidential family have already been strengthened.
The incident is not an isolated one. In July , the Tasnim news agency, also affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, released a similar video targeting First Lady Melania Trump , showing details of her movements in New York and alleged gaps in her security. That footage concluded with a warning that the president’s son would follow. Earlier, in May, reports had been circulating about an alleged plot against Ivanka Trump .
The shift in threats from the president himself and officials handling policy towards Tehran to members of his family is considered by analysts to be the most worrying aspect of the development — regardless of whether the allegations are true. The mere fact that material of this nature is being broadcast by an official state channel constitutes, as noted, crossing a red line.
The rhetoric is directly linked to the war that broke out on February 28 , when joint US-Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior military and political officials. Since then, calls for revenge have been a central element of hardline rhetoric in Iran, with some state media outlets attempting to ground them in religious notions of retributive justice.
The background, however, is older. It dates back to January 2020 and the assassination of the commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani , in a US strike at Baghdad airport, an operation that Trump had approved during his first term. Since then, US law enforcement authorities have repeatedly uncovered Iranian plots against US officials — among other things, in 2022 a member of the Revolutionary Guard was charged with conspiring to assassinate former National Security Adviser John Bolton , while in 2024 prosecutors said that Tehran had tasked an associate with drawing up a plan against Trump himself.
The new transmission comes at a time of intense escalation in the economic sphere , following the US president’s announcement of sweeping measures to isolate Iran economically. The head of Iran’s National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei , warned on Saturday that the country may expand its attacks on American businesses , citing this very announcement.
