Iran Turns Offensive, Adds Rewards for Killing US Troops

While much of the world’s attention this month has been fixed on US sanctions against Iran and the warnings Tehran keeps sending its adversaries, Iran’s military used Saturday to announce something that had stayed out of the spotlight: an official shift in military doctrine and the introduction of cash rewards for killing or capturing American soldiers. It is not a minor footnote for Belgrade, either. Every fresh round of escalation between Tehran and Washington pushes global oil prices up and complicates the sanctions regime that the European Union, the bloc Serbia hopes to join, has spent years trying to reconcile with its own energy and security interests.

Iran’s army spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, told the state news agency IRNA on Saturday, August 22, that the country’s military doctrine has moved from a defensive to an offensive posture. He said the shift unfolded gradually over the course of two conflicts he referred to as the twelve day war and the forty day war.

“Our country’s military doctrine used to be defensive, but during these two wars we gradually witnessed the military doctrine shift from a defensive to an offensive stance,” Akraminia told IRNA.

Different outlets render his name two ways, as Akraminia and as Akramnia, though the substance of his statements is the same in both cases.

What does an offensive doctrine mean in practice?

Akraminia stressed that an offensive doctrine does not necessarily mean preemptive operations, but said Iran has already applied that approach, striking a US base in Jordan before the United States formally entered the conflict. According to him, the strike took place on July 17, 2026, killing three American soldiers and causing serious damage to equipment, facilities and personnel. As a second element of the new doctrine, he pointed to an immediate response to any attack, one that, in his words, can be broader than whatever triggered it.

“Iran’s military doctrine has shifted from a defensive stance to an offensive approach,” the spokesman repeated, adding that fast, broader responses to attacks, alongside preemptive operations, effectively proved that shift during the war.

How much is the reward for killing a US soldier?

Akraminia also announced that the military has drawn up a cash reward plan in case of a US ground incursion into Iranian territory. Members of the armed forces, as well as civilians who legally own hunting weapons, would receive 5 billion tomans, about $26,000, for killing or capturing an American soldier. If a woman carries out the act, the amount doubles to 10 billion tomans, roughly $53,000.

The plan also calls for the military to buy back the weapon used in the operation at double its value, keep it on display at a military museum under the owner’s name, and provide that person with a replacement weapon of the same type. Akraminia presented this part of the plan as an incentive for both regular members of the armed forces and civilians living in border areas.

Why did Iran merge two command headquarters?

The spokesman also confirmed that the Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters has been folded into the Armed Forces General Staff, saying the move increases agility, unity of command and the speed of decisions and responses to threats. The former commander of that headquarters, Ali Abdollahi, had earlier made the same assessment about the doctrine’s shift from defensive to offensive, something Akraminia now presents as an official confirmation at the military’s highest level.

Alongside the army spokesman, the Iranian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Brigadier General Reza Talai-Nik, also spoke, presenting data on domestic weapons production. According to him, Iran produced 31 basic defense products before the 1979 revolution, while today it produces more than 1,000 advanced systems, weapons and types of ammunition, with production of certain key systems having tripled during the twelve day war.

The fate of the captured pilots and claims about declining US influence

Akraminia also addressed the fate of three Iranian Su-24 fighter pilots, whose status, he said, Qatar has still not clarified through diplomatic channels. They were part of the crew that took part in the strike on the US base in Qatar: one of the four pilots, Brigadier General Majid Kazemi, was killed in that operation and later buried in the Iranian city of Shiraz, while the fate of the remaining three remains unclear. The spokesman said Iran’s Foreign Ministry and military are pursuing the pilots’ case through legal and diplomatic channels with Qatari and international actors, and he called on Qatar to clarify their status in line with international conventions.

The spokesman also claimed that US influence in the region has dropped sharply, pointing to a security mechanism that, he said, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have set up independently of Washington. Regardless of how effective that mechanism proves in practice, Akraminia described it as the first regional security framework without US participation, presenting it as evidence of a weakening American position in the Middle East.

None of these claims, from the doctrine shift to the assessment of US influence, has been independently confirmed outside official Iranian sources, and the diplomatic status of the pilots’ case in Qatar remains open.