Iranian state television is calling on residents in a south-western province to help locate what it says is an American pilot who has ejected from a warplane, according to the Associated Press.

The broadcast follows Iran’s claim that it has shot down a US fighter jet. There is still no public comment from Washington on that specific assertion.

AP reports that a local state TV channel in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province says a US pilot came down over the area after ejecting. On air, the presenter tells viewers that anyone who captures the “enemy pilot or pilots” alive and hands them to police will receive a “precious prize”.

The same channel initially gives a far more violent instruction, urging viewers to shoot any Americans they see, AP says. It later changes that message and instead asks for co-operation with the authorities, citing a police statement.

Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad is a largely rural province around 500km south-west of Tehran. AP says this appears to be the first time Iranian television has openly asked the public to search for a suspected downed US pilot.

Washington has denied similar Iranian claims about downed American aircraft in the past. There has so far been no US confirmation of Iran’s latest account.