WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Sunday it has rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines after Iran shot down a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by threatening to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said in a social media post that the pilot was injured but “will be fine” and that the rescue involved “dozens of planes” and that the US was monitoring his location for his rescue.
“This brave warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, hunted by our enemies, who were getting closer by the hour,” Trump wrote.
The evacuation of airmen after Friday’s crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle put a damper on US search-and-rescue operations, as Iran vowed to offer a reward to anyone who turned in an “enemy pilot”.
A second crew member was rescued earlier.
The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to crash into Iranian territory since the war, now in its sixth week of explosions.
Trump said last week that the US had “destroyed” Iran and would end the war “very quickly”. Two days later, Iran shot down two U.S. military aircraft, demonstrating the continuing dangers of the bombing campaign and the ability of a depleted Iranian military to continue to strike back.
The next jet to crash was an American A-10 attack plane. Neither the status of the crew nor the exact location of the crash is known.
Drones hit Gulf energy infrastructure
In Kuwait, an Iranian drone attack caused major damage to two power plants and put a water desalination station out of service, according to the Ministry of Electricity. The ministry said that there was no damage from the attack.
In Bahrain, the national oil company said a drone attack caused a fire at one of its storage facilities, which was put out. He said that the details of the damage were yet to come and there was no damage.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to several fires at the Borough Petrochemicals plant, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria’s Borealis. They say the fire was caused by falling debris after a successful interception by the air defense system, but production at the plant in Ruwais, near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia, has been halted.
A day after Israel attacked an Iranian petrochemical plant, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the revenue was used to fund the war.
The war began with a US-Israeli attack on February 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut major shipping routes and sent fuel prices soaring. Both sides have threatened and attacked civilian targets, warning of possible war crimes.
Trump threatened again
Trump threatened Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face catastrophic consequences, writing in a social media post on Saturday: “Remember when I gave Iran 10 days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell will reign over them.”
The waterway is a critical chokepoint for global energy transport, particularly oil and gas moving from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. The disruptions there have destabilized the market and pushed oil and gas importing countries to look for alternative sources.
“The gates of hell will open for you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, General Ali Abdullahi Aliabadi, with the country’s joint military command, said late Saturday in response to Trump’s new threat, state media reported. In return, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the US military in the region.
But Tahir Andrabi, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry, told The Associated Press that his government’s efforts for a ceasefire were “on the right track” after Islamabad said last week it would soon hold talks between the US and Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranian officials “have never refused to go to Islamabad.”
Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the US and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.
The proposed agreement includes an end to hostilities in favor of a diplomatic solution, according to a regional official involved in the effort and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.
Iran has threatened to block traffic in the second major strait
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to block traffic through the region’s second strategic waterway, Bab al-Mandeb.
The 32 km (20 mi) wide strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of marine oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.
“Which countries and companies account for the greatest transit volume through the strait?” Kalibaf wrote.
More than 1,900 people have been killed since the start of the war in Iran.
In the Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have been killed, while 19 in Israel and 13 members of the US military have been killed. More than 1400 people have died in Lebanon and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.
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This report has been corrected to show that Borealis is an Austrian company and not Australian.
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Metz reproted from Jerusalem. John Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Sami Magdy in Cairo; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.
