Iran says Qatar delaying probe into fate of pilots

Offers $30k bounty for killing, capturing US soldiers

TEHRAN/DUBAI/ JAZAN:

DUBAI/TEHRAN/JAZAN

Iranian military official said on Sunday that Qatar ?should let an Iranian team in ?to investigate the fate of Iranian pilots ?who Tehran says are being held there, Iranian media said on Sunday.

Qatar denies holding any pilots. Mohammad Baqerzadeh, ?commander of the Committee for the Search for Missing Persons of Iran's Armed Forces ?General Staff, said the air force and fact-finding team had been waiting for months to enter Qatar, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Baqerzadeh accused Qatari officials of repeatedly delaying the investigation and preventing the pilots' return to Iran. He called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to urgently follow up on the case.

As the tensions between Washington and Tehran continue, Iran's military announced 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.

Army chief Amir Hatami said the plan had been drawn up following "the large number of requests" to participate in the financial support, according to the IRNA state news agency.

There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.

Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.

"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 said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.

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

Meanwhile, Saudi ?Arabia's ?civil defence said on Sunday it ?had issued an ?alert for potential danger in ?Jazan province, according to a post on X.

The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.

Iran and the US have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.