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Bounty hunters have rushed out into Iran's mountains after officials offered a £50,000 reward to any citizen who finds the pilot of the shot-down US fighter jet 'alive'

Iranian officials are offering a £50,000 reward to any citizen who captures the pilot of the downed US fighter jet alive.

A major search by US forces remains underway today after a F15-E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down by the Iranian military yesterday, with one of the crew since rescued by American troops and a second still missing. Tehran has also claimed a A-10 Warthog attack aircraft crashed after being hit, while US outlets reported the pilot had ejected over the Gulf and has been rescued.

A reward of 10 billion Iranian tomans (£50,000) has now been set by officials in the Khuzestan province for anyone who captures the American "intruder", with state-run media describing them as the pilot.

The sum dwarfs the £150 average monthly salary in Iran, and has already begun to attract bounty hunters in the south of the country. One video circulating online from the southern Khuzestan province shows a group of men walking over a rocky mountain clutching guns, and parading a pro-regime flag.

A voice is heard saying: "God willing, we will find him." The governor of the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said the priority is "capturing" any downed US crew "alive".

He said: "Those who succeed in capturing or killing hostile enemy forces will be specially commended by the Governor’s office."

The downing of the US aircraft is the first since the war began on February 28, and came just two days after Donald Trump claimed American troops had "beaten and completely decimated Iran". The last time a US fighter jet was shot down in combat was an A-10 Thunderbolt II, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a brief statement yesterday evening confirming that the president had been briefed, but provided no further details.

In a later phone interview with US TV, Trump did not answer questions on the search-and-rescue operation but insisted the incident would not affect his ceasefire negotiations with Tehran, adding: "No, it's war. We're in war".

When asked if the missing airman could be harmed if captured by the Iranians, he told The Independent: "we hope that’s not going to happen," before ending the call.

It comes as mediators described talks between Iran and the US on reopening the Strait of Hormuz as having reached a "dead end", with Tehran now unwilling to send officials to scheduled talks in Pakistan next week after describing the White House's demands as "unacceptable".