According to The New York Times, the task was undertaken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which closed the provinces of Kohgiluyeh and Bojer-Ahmad in the southwest of the country. In addition, Iranian television called on the residents of the region to try to detain or shoot the wanted American.
The Iranian authorities have reportedly offered a reward of up to 100,000 dollars (2.1 million CZK) for the handover of the live airman. “If you capture an enemy pilot and hand him over alive to the police, you will get a high reward,” confirmed the moderator of Iranian television.
Friday’s downing of the F-15E is the first known loss of an American fighter plane directly over Iranian territory since the beginning of the regional conflict in the Middle East, which was ignited by the US and Israel on February 28.
US President Donald Trump said in a short telephone interview to the British newspaper The Independent that he is not yet able to say how the United States will react if the Iranians arrive at the downed pilot first.
“Well, I can’t comment on that because…we hope it doesn’t happen,” the White House chief said briefly and ended the call.
In an earlier interview with NBC, Trump said Friday’s events would have no effect on any negotiations with Tehran to end the war. “No, not at all. It’s a war. We’re at war,” he said.
“Evil will not win”
In an Easter message published on the Truth Social social network, Trump assured that Christians around the world can “live every day with hope in God’s promise and the knowledge that evil and malevolence will not win in the end.”
Hamidreza Azizi, an expert at the Berlin Institute for International and Security Issues, told The New York Times that he sees two options for how Iran will proceed if it succeeds in capturing the American plane first. Either Tehran will keep it a secret and will secretly negotiate with the Americans to force concessions.
The second possibility, according to Azizi, is that he will show off the captive in front of television cameras, which the expert considers more likely. “The Iranians absolutely need to present an image of some kind of success and at the same time humiliate Trump,” said Azizi.
In retaliation for American and Israeli strikes, Iran fires ballistic missiles and drones at Israel and American military facilities in the Middle East. It also attacks civilian targets, including oil infrastructure in surrounding Arab countries.
