Tehran: The Iranian military announced on Sunday it would be offering a $30,000 reward for the killing or capturing of US soldiers, with the bounty doubled if conducted by a woman. There have been no known deployments of US ground troops in Iran during the war except for a rescue mission carried out in April.
According to France24.com, Iran's military made this announcement, with Army chief Amir Hatami stating that the plan had been drawn up following a "large number of requests" to participate, as reported by the IRNA state news agency. Despite the ongoing tensions, there has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, apart from a rescue mission in April for a downed American airman.
Hatami did not elaborate on the specifics regarding the locations or timing for the potential targeting of US soldiers. He stated 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," using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials. Furthermore, Hatami mentioned that "courageous Iranian women who carry out such an action will receive double the reward."
The announcement was accompanied by Hatami's reiteration of Iran's demand for the US to exit the Middle East. He emphasized that "they no longer have permission to enter the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman or the Strait of Hormuz."
The conflict between Tehran and Washington ignited on February 28 when the United States, alongside Israel, attacked Iran. Following this, the US conducted a significant rescue operation in April to save a weapon systems officer of an F-15 jet, which involved around 200 US troops and more than 170 aircraft. This mission was executed to retrieve the airman ahead of Iranian forces, during which an A-10 ground attack aircraft was damaged and abandoned.
The war was temporarily halted by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, succeeded by a June framework for peace talks that eventually collapsed. Since then, Iran and the United States have sporadically exchanged fire, with the conflict mainly concentrated in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Despite ongoing indirect contact via mediators, there has been little progress toward a diplomatic resolution. Iran has also presented a list of demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including compensation for war damages. The number of US military personnel killed since the onset of the war is 17, with the most recent fatalities occurring in July, all outside of Iran, in countries such as Jordan and Iraq.