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Iran's June 17 Memorandum of Understanding with the United States expired Monday without resolution, as Tehran announced a $30,000 bounty on American soldiers and Washington prepared an unprecedented new round of sanctions.
The 60-day MOU, signed in Islamabad after months of military conflict over the Strait of Hormuz, was supposed to create a framework for ending the war. Both sides spent the window blaming each other for violations. Iranian officials called the timeline 'entirely moot.' Washington never bridged the gap.
Iranian Army Commander-in-Chief Amir Hatami announced the bounty scheme Sunday through state broadcaster IRIB, framing it as a 'financial jihad.' Any individual who kills or captures an American service member receives 5 billion tomans — roughly $30,000 at current exchange rates. Women who carry out such an act receive double. Hatami said the fund would be backed by voluntary contributions from Iranian citizens.
The announcement came as Strait of Hormuz shipping data collapsed over the weekend. Kpler tracking showed five commodity vessels crossing the strait Saturday and zero on Sunday, compared to 31 the previous weekend. Brent crude held near $89 a barrel Monday after rising more than 6 percent last week.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Friday that Washington would impose what officials described as 'unprecedented' restrictions on Tehran as early as this week. President Trump has vowed to intensify economic pressure on Iran, and the Treasury move represents a significant escalation of the sanctions architecture already in place since the conflict began.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref responded by calling for 'national unity and tighter market regulation,' insisting Iran would prevail in what he described as an 'economic war.' Iran's parliament separately approved the broad principles of a bill that would criminalize communication with U.S., Israeli, and other media outlets deemed hostile to the Islamic Republic.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Nickolay Mladenov were in Cairo Monday meeting Egyptian, Qatari, and Turkish mediators — and separately, Hamas officials — to advance Trump's Gaza peace framework. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet Kushner later this week.
