Iran offers $30,000 bounty on US soldiers, double for women
What's the story
Iran's military has announced a bounty of $30,000 for killing or capturing United States soldiers. The reward is doubled to $60,000 if the act is committed by an Iranian woman. The announcement was made by Iranian Army chief Amir Hatami, who said the decision was taken after "the large number of requests" from people willing to participate in the financial support, according to the IRNA state news agency.
General
No known deployment of US ground forces in Iran
"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," Hatami said.
"Courageous Iranian women who carry out such an action will receive double the reward."
There has been no confirmed deployment of US ground soldiers in Iran, with the exception of a rescue mission for a downed American pilot in April.
Escalating conflict
Bounty announcement comes amid ongoing tensions
The bounty announcement comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the United States in West Asia.
The two countries have been trading strikes on each other's interests in the region since February 28, when a war broke out after US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
An April ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, ended nearly 40 days of fighting. However, a June peace framework collapsed without major diplomatic breakthroughs.
Regional impact
€50 million reward for killing Trump proposal
Iranian leaders had previously advocated for bounties to assassinate US US President Donald Trump.
On May 15, Ebrahim Azizi, head of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said lawmakers had prepared several bills since the start of the war, including one on "countermeasures by military and security forces."
He said the bill stipulates that "if any natural or legal person carries out this religious and ideological mission, the government is obliged to pay €50 million as a reward."