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$30,000 bounty announced
Iran’s military announced on Sunday that it was offering a bounty equivalent to $30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers, with the reward doubled if carried out by a woman.
“offering a bounty equivalent to $30,000 for killing or capturing US soldiers”
Army chief Amir Hatami said the plan was drawn up following a "large number of requests" to participate in the financial support, according to the IRNA state news agency.
Hatami said, "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 Iran's Army," using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The announcement came as the war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran, and it was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Hatami’s warnings and talks
The BBC reported that the Iranian Army’s Commander-in-Chief, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, announced the same $30,000 reward for killing or capturing an American soldier and handing him over, with the reward doubling if the operation was carried out by a woman.
Mousavi said the initiative came in response to a large number of requests from people who wanted to contribute to funding the rewards, and the agency quoted him saying that the army will "grant $30,000 to anyone who kills or captures and hands over a member of the aggressive American forces".
In parallel, France 24 with AFP said Hatami did not provide details on where or when the killing or capturing was expected to take place, and it reported that Hatami repeated Iran’s call for the US to leave the Middle East.
France 24 also reported Hatami’s statement that "they no longer have permission to enter the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman or the Strait of Hormuz" as indirect contact between Tehran and Washington continued via mediators.
Strait of Hormuz and shipping
The BBC linked the bounty announcement to developments around the Strait of Hormuz, saying shipping traffic through the strait slowed over the weekend after tanker attacks while negotiations aimed at ending the conflict remained stalled.
“Data tracked by ClarkSea on Monday showed five commodity-carrying ships crossing the strait on Saturday”
Data tracked by ClarkSea showed five commodity-carrying ships crossing the strait on Saturday, with no ships recorded on Sunday, compared to 31 ships over the previous weekend.
The BBC also said that before the war, about a quarter of the world’s crude oil and natural gas shipments passed through the waterway, and it reported that the United States said it could continue the naval blockade of Iran indefinitely.
In the same BBC report, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Saturday that resuming navigation requires Washington to respond to Tehran’s conditions for the strait, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that talks with Oman were still ongoing.