Mohsen Rezaei, appointed today by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran’s national security chief, has a long record of threatening to take Americans hostage.

He is a hardliner, and his appointment is a message.

In 2015, Rezaei said that if the U.S. messed with Iran, the Islamic republic would “capture at least 1,000 Americans in the first week,” adding that the U.S. would have to pay “a few billion dollars” to free each one and that Iran’s economic problems might then be solved.

Rezaei revived the threat this year in April, saying Iran could capture U.S. troops demand $1 billion for each hostage.