The Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces announced the setting of a reward for the killing or hostage-taking of American soldiers.

Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted Amir Hatami as saying: “If any Iranian force can capture or kill an invading American force, it will receive a $30,000 reward.”

Previously, Mohsen Rezaei, the current secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had claimed that the Iranian government could, by holding American soldiers captive, “earn billions of dollars.”

In past decades, the Islamic Republic has, through detaining foreign nationals and dual citizens, sought to exchange them for prisoners or the release of frozen assets.

With an emphasis on the Islamic Republic’s support for terrorism, the United States has condemned this “extortionate” policy of the Islamic Republic.