Saturday, April 4, 2026:
At night, I watched the following movie in my Japanese-style room.
Recorded on a USB-HDD (registration number 3) connected to a DIGA (2017 model). Aired on TV TOKYO on June 5, 2022, at 3:15 AM.
SATURDAY CINEMA "THE HUNTER" (1980, USA. Japanese dubbed).
It was interesting.
Although I had seen the movie long ago, I didn't remember the plot or the faces of any of the cast members except the lead actor, so it was like watching it for the first time.
Set 100 years after the era of the Wild West, this movie depicts the life of a modern-day "bounty hunter" (a private "agent" who legally arrests suspects with the approval of the US Supreme Court).
As of April 5, 2026, a group of burly Iranian bounty hunters are searching the rugged mountainous regions of Iran for the American F-15 pilots. They are reportedly receiving a reward from the Iranian government for capturing the pilot alive and handing him over.
The Iranian government's offering of a bounty for the American pilots was a reasonable measure. Without it, the enraged Iranian people would likely torture and kill the pilot upon discovery.
Neither the US nor Israel has yet declared war. Iran, having suffered unilateral assassinations of key figures and massacres of civilians, is merely resisting from within its own territory. Therefore, regardless of the actual situation, legally, it is not in a state of "war."
Consequently, Iran may not have a legal obligation to treat the US military pilots who illegally entered Iranian territory as a "prisoner of war."
Of course, from a humanitarian, diplomatic, and international public opinion perspective, the Iranian government would find it more advantageous to capture the American fighters alive and treat them as "prisoners of war."
If the Iranian military finds the pilots, they will likely capture them alive, but it's unlikely they would mobilize their regular forces to search for one or two pilots.
In reality, just like the protagonist in the aforementioned film, dangerous and troublesome tasks are left to fearless "bounty hunters."
There are reports that one of the two pilots was rescued by US special forces, but this is unconfirmed.
Furthermore, the pilot of the A-10 shot down by Iranian forces is still missing.
Will the American pilots, wandering through the mountainous terrain, be able to safely reach the border with Iraq？
