$80 Million Bounty For Trump's Head Announced On Iran TV

Iran has announced the cancellation of nationwide funeral processions honoring major general Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated Friday on orders of president Donald Trump, after millions showed-up to mourn and praise him in the cities of Ahvaz in the southwest and Mashhad in the northeast.

The announcement was made on behalf of the government by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday. Soleimani commanded the IRGC's elite Special Forces group called the Quds Force, which is responsible for military operations outside Iran.

"Considering the glorious, intense and million-man presence of the revolutionary people of Mashhad in the ceremony to bid farewell to Islam and Iran's great general Qasem Soleimani and since the program is still continuing ... it is not possible to hold the event in Tehran," said the IRGC in a statement. Instead, it called on Iranians to attend a ceremony honoring Soleimani scheduled to take place at Tehran University on Monday.

The call to discontinue the manifestation of national mourning also took place after an unidentified Islamic eulogist at the funeral procession in Mashhad put an $80 million bounty on Trump’s head on state TV station, Channel One.

“We are 80 million Iranians. If each one of us puts aside one American dollar, we will have 80 million American dollars, and we will reward anyone who brings us (Trump)’s head with that amount,” said the eulogist to a mammoth crowd in Mashhad. The call for a bounty on Trump was broadcast live on Channel One.

"And we would give this $80 million, on our own behalf, as a gift to anyone who brings the head of the person who ordered the murder of the grand figure of our revolution. Anyone who brings us the head of this yellow-haired lunatic, we would give him $80 million on behalf of the great Iranian nation. Chant if you agree." The video shows the massive crowd reacting with loud chants.

The reward for Trump's death was confirmed on Sunday by news editor M. Hanif Jazayeri, according to fact-checking site Snopes. Jazayeri posted a tweet saying Iran had placed an $80 million bounty on Trump's head in retaliation for Soleimani's murder.

"OMG! Iran's regime just announced an $80 million bounty for anyone who brings the head of @realDonaldTrump for killing Soleimani. PS: Iran's ppl however are overjoyed at Soleimani's death. As the #IranProtests have shown, they long for an end to the mullahs' tyranny #FreeIran2020"

The bounty, however, has not been confirmed by Iranian officials. The identity of the eulogist has also yet to be revealed.

Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and senior IRGC generals have vowed revenge against the U.S., as have Iran's allied militia operating in the Middle East.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the U.S. Army will "pay the price" for killing Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iran-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Six other men were killed in the U.S. aerial drone strike that saw two air-to-surface missiles each obliterate two vehicles outside the Baghdad international airport on the early morning of January 3.

"The American army killed them and it will pay the price," said Nasrallah in a televised speech. "The only just punishment is (to target) American military presence in the region: US military bases, US warships, each and every officer and soldier in the region."