A senior Iranian leader threatened to capture and hold 1,000 American soldiers for ransom if the United States were to attempt to strike his country, Al Arabiya reported on Sunday.

The warning was issued in an interview with Iran’s Channel 2 by General Mohsen Rezaee, former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and current Secretary General of Iran’s Expediency Council.

The Expediency Council is an administrative assembly appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader. It is tasked with resolving differences between the Iranian Parliament and the Guardian Council, in addition to acting in an advisory role to the Supreme Leader.

Regarding the ransom money Iran might receive in exchange for the soldiers, Rezaee claimed that, “Iran would be able to solve many of its economic problems with the dollars that such a ransom would produce.”

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He also commented on the ongoing negotiations with world powers on Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the Americans, “are today alone in the P5+1 negotiations, and have no choice but to agree,” on a deal with Iran.

Rezaee also responded to reports that, in the case of the failure of negotiations, the United States would still consider all possible options, including potential military action, saying that, “the Americans are handicapped and incapable of launching an armed attack on Iran, just as they will not be able to tighten sanctions on it, and they have no option but agreeing.”

Rezaee’s comments came one day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei called on Iran to be prepared to fight the United States after the end of the negotiations, in order to confront what he called, “the Global Arrogance.”