IRAN'S military has offered a US$30,000 (RM122,490) reward for anyone who kills or captures US military personnel, with women promised twice that amount, as tensions between Tehran and Washington remain unresolved.
AFP reported Iranian military chief Amir Hatami saying the offer was made after authorities received a large number of requests from people seeking to participate.
He did not, however, provide details on where or when any attempt to capture or kill US personnel would take place.
"Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading US serviceman will receive a reward equivalent to US$30,000 or five billion tomans from the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"Iranian women who bravely carry out such an action will receive double the reward," he said, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.
There are no known US ground military bases in Iran during the conflict, apart from a rescue mission in April to recover a US military pilot whose aircraft had been shot down.
Hatami also renewed Iran's call for the United States to withdraw from the Middle East, saying Washington no longer had permission to enter the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman or Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict between Tehran and Washington began on 28 February when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
More than a month after the war began, the US launched a large-scale operation to evacuate personnel associated with an F-15 weapons system, involving around 200 US military personnel and more than 170 aircraft, before the operation was detected by Iranian forces.
During the rescue operation, Iranian forces damaged an A-10 ground-attack aircraft, forcing it to land in allied territory.
The US was also reported to have abandoned and destroyed several aircraft used in the operation, including a C-130 transport aircraft.
Several days earlier, the F-15 pilot had been rescued by a helicopter crew in a smaller operation.
The conflict was subsequently suspended under a ceasefire in April after nearly 40 days of fighting, followed by a framework for peace negotiations in June that ultimately failed.
Since then, Iran and the United States have remained engaged in intermittent fighting, mainly in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Indirect contacts between the two sides through intermediaries have continued, but there have been few signs of diplomatic progress.
Iran has also put forward several conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, including demands for war reparations.
The number of US military personnel killed since the conflict began has reached 17, with the latest death recorded last month.
All were killed outside Iran, including in Jordan and Iraq, according to AFP. - August 17, 2026
