Iran’s army chief announced a $30,000 bounty on Sunday for anyone who kills or captures a U.S. service member, doubling the reward for Iranian women who carry out the act, as tensions with Washington deepened following the expiry of a wartime truce framework.
Major General Amir Hatami, commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, said at a ceremony marking National Journalists’ Day that “anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army.” He said “courageous Iranian women” who carry out such an act would receive double the payout.
Hatami said the initiative had been drawn up following numerous requests from Iranians seeking to take part in the country’s defence, according to state news agency IRNA. He linked the bounty to demands that U.S. forces withdraw from the region, declaring they “no longer have permission to enter the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, or the Strait of Hormuz,” and said “the only way is for the Americans to leave the region.”
There has been no known deployment of U.S. ground forces inside Iran during the conflict, aside from an April rescue mission for a downed American pilot. Hatami gave no details on where or when the killing or capture of U.S. troops was expected to occur. American bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan have repeatedly come under Iranian attack during the war.
Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces separately vowed to continue confronting the United States until its adversaries face “complete” defeat and are forced to surrender.
The announcement comes as the conflict, which began on February 28, has killed 17 U.S. service members and wounded 642, according to Pentagon figures, and as a 60-day negotiating window under a June memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran expired on Monday without a broader settlement. The United States has maintained a naval blockade of Iranian ports since mid-July, after an earlier ceasefire collapsed.
