The Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Army, General Amir Hatami, has officially announced the imposition of a cash reward of $30,000 for each killed or captured US soldier. The news was reported on state television IRIB. The amount is equivalent to about 5 billion Iranian tomans. An interesting detail is that Iranian women who manage to eliminate or capture an American serviceman will receive double the reward. The initiative is defined by Tehran as a regulated "financial jihad" by the army. Iran has also launched a program to buy back the weapons used in the attacks at twice their market price.
Reuters describes the situation in the region as critical, indicating that Washington is looking for new long-term scenarios to put pressure on Iran. The US is trying to end the previous whack-a-mole tactic, which consisted of isolated retaliatory air strikes for each Iranian provocation. The Donald Trump administration is considering a stricter naval blockade and a total cutoff of Iran's economic channels. This comes after the US president threatened to declare the Strait of Hormuz American territory.
Meanwhile, the Axios publication revealed details of secret US diplomatic moves. During the latest negotiations in mid-May, the White House made direct contacts with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), bypassing official Iranian negotiators. The President of Iraqi Kurdistan Nechirvan Barzani was used as an intermediary, who spoke personally with the IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi to check whether the military wing supports Tehran's diplomatic steps.
In parallel with the Iranian crisis, emergency shuttles to the Middle East are being held in the Egyptian city of El Alamein. Al Hadath TV and AFP reported that US special envoy Jared Kushner held key talks with Egyptian leaders including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and intelligence chief Hassan Rashad. Kushner also met with a Hamas delegation led by new leader Khalil al-Haya. The talks are aimed at saving a stalled 15-point peace plan for the Gaza Strip, which calls for Hamas to be disarmed and Israel to withdraw in phases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already publicly rejected the plans, insisting on the complete destruction of the Palestinian group before any withdrawal.