Iran Shifts to Offensive Military Doctrine, Puts Bounty on US Troops

August 22, 2026 | 05:52 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iran’s army says it is shifting its military doctrine from a defensive to an offensive posture, citing lessons from what it described as the country’s recent 12-day and 40-day wars.

Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akraminia, spokesman for the Iranian army, told state news agency IRNA that the shift had gradually taken place during the two conflicts.

“Our country’s military doctrine was defensive in the past, but gradually during these two wars, we witnessed the military doctrine moving from a defensive posture toward an offensive one,” Akraminia said, as quoted by Anadolu.

He stressed that an offensive doctrine did not necessarily mean conducting preemptive operations. However, he said Iran had adopted such an approach at one point by striking a US base in Jordan before the United States entered the conflict.

Akraminia claimed the attack caused “serious damage” to US equipment, facilities and personnel.

He said the doctrine also calls for immediate responses to attacks, with Iran’s retaliation potentially exceeding the scale of the initial action.

According to Akraminia, Iran’s wartime experience demonstrated the shift through faster, broader responses to attacks as well as preemptive operations.

Iran Offers Bounty for Killing, Capturing US Troops

Akraminia also said the army had prepared a plan to offer financial rewards for killing or capturing US troops if American forces launch a ground incursion into Iran.

Under the plan, military personnel or civilians legally possessing hunting weapons would receive 5 billion tomans, or about $26,000, for killing or capturing US troops who enter Iranian territory, he said.

The reward would double to 10 billion tomans, or about $53,000, if the action were carried out by a woman, Akraminia added.

He said the army would also buy the weapon used in the action for twice its value, place it in a military museum under the owner’s name and provide the individual with a replacement weapon.

Military Command Restructured

According to Middle East Monitor, Akraminia said the recent merger of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters with the General Staff of the Armed Forces was intended to make Iran’s military more agile and improve coordination and decision-making.

The restructuring, he said, would strengthen unity of command among the armed forces and enable faster responses to threats.

The spokesman also said Iran was pursuing the status of three Iranian army Su-24 pilots through diplomatic and legal channels, saying Qatar had yet to clarify their whereabouts.

Four pilots were involved in an attack on a US base in Qatar, according to Akraminia. He said Brig. Gen. Majid Kazemi was killed and later buried in Shiraz, while the status of the other three remained unclear.

He said Iran’s Foreign Ministry and army were pursuing the matter with Qatari and international authorities and urged Qatar to clarify the pilots’ status in accordance with international conventions.

Akraminia also claimed that US influence in the region had declined sharply, citing a defense and security mechanism involving Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan that was established without Washington’s participation.

Regardless of its future effectiveness, he said, the mechanism demonstrated what he described as the decline of US influence in the region and represented the first regional defense and security mechanism formed without US participation.

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