Iran’s $30,000 Bounty on U.S. Troops

Iran is reportedly offering a $30,000 bounty for the capture or killing of U.S. troops, raising new concerns about threats against American service members.

As reported by the New York Post:

Tehran’s military chief put out a $30,000 reward for anyone who kills or captures a US soldier — with the reward doubled for Iranian women — but it remains unclear how they can carry out the orders.

Iranian army chief Amir Hatami said there were a “large number of requests” for bounties to be put on the American soldiers despite the lack 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 told IRNA.

“Courageous Iranian women who carry out such an action will receive double the reward,” he added.

The army chief even claimed that the weapon used to kill an American would be kept in a supposed museum currently under planning.

Hatami, however, made no mention of when or where attacks on US soldiers, who are stationed beyond the reach of the average IIranians, would take place.

The 18 US troops who have died since the war with Iran began on Feb. 28 have all died outside the country in airstrikes and munition incidents.

The last time a US soldier was on Iranian soil was in April when an F-15E fighter jet went down, resulting in a quick rescue mission for its pilot and weapons specialist.

The bounty announcement comes after President Trump repeatedly accused Iran of struggling to pay its troops as the renewed US naval blockade continues to bleed the Islamic republic’s finances.

We already know about their plans to assassinate President Trump, leading to a sort-of Air Force One shell game to throw off would-be attackers. Now it feels like the plot has thickened as Iran is encouraging its citizens to engage and make money killing American troops. And this comes at a time when Reuters is reporting that a senior Iranian official is saying Iran could be considering moving to an offensive posture as opposed to a defensive posture.

This is a serious issue.The Iranians are the largest state sponsor of terrorism. Who’s to say they’ll limit the parameters to Iranian soil, or even the Middle East? When you think about their proxies with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis – their preferred form of warfare has been and remains terror.

Considering this $30,000 reward, and how porous the American border was for four years under Joe Biden, it’s a cause for concern.. 

The announcement reportedly came from Iran’s regular army chief, not the head of the IRGC. Those are two different forces.

The IRGC is the “elite” military organization that has enormous influence over Iran’s economy and security apparatus. It has also been the Iranian driving force involved in many of the country’s proxy operations and back-channel dealings.

So, when the army chief starts making these kinds of statements publicly, it may tell us something about the internal power struggle inside Iran, too. Remember, this is a country dealing with enormous upheaval in its leadership. There are competing factions, competing military forces and competing ideas about what comes next. That may also be why negotiations with Iran are so difficult. You may be talking to one faction while another faction is trying to demonstrate that they are the ones in control.

Regardless of any internal struggle in Iran, we now have them publicly offering money for Americans to be captured or killed.  And that must be taken extremely seriously.

Today’s Sekulow broadcast included more discussion of this disturbing news of Iran placing a bounty on American soldiers. We also provided an update on Pastor Cao and the ongoing effort to bring him home.