Trump and Israel are pressuring Iran ahead of a deadline to find the missing American crew members

By Enas Alashray and Phil Stewart

CAIRO/WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Iran on Saturday to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway or face an attack on its energy infrastructure, while Iranian and U.S. forces searched for a missing American crew member from one of two fighter jets.

Trump, who has sent mixed messages since the conflict erupted with a joint US-Israeli bombing of Iran on February 28, has told Tehran that his deadline for a deal to end the war is fast approaching.

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell will reign over them. Glory to God!” He has written on Truth Social.

Trump’s message about the war has returned amid signs of diplomatic progress and threats to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Age”.

In an apparent move to increase pressure on Tehran after Trump’s latest ultimatum, a senior Israeli defense official said Israel was preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities, and was awaiting a green light from the US, the official said. Trump had previously threatened to attack Iranian power plants if his demands were not met.

Washington faces high stakes as the conflict enters its sixth week, with one US service member alive and likely to flee to Iran, less prospects for peace talks and a referendum showing less public support for the war.

Defiant by Iran’s leadership since the conflict began, its foreign minister has left the door open in principle to peace talks with the US mediated by Pakistan, but Tehran has given no indication that it is willing to bow to Trump’s demands.

“We are deeply grateful for Pakistan’s efforts and have not refused to go to Islamabad. What interests us are the conditions for a decisive and lasting end to the illegal war imposed on us,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.

The war killed thousands, caused an energy crisis and caused lasting damage to the world economy. Iran has virtually closed off the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid natural gas.

Iran has rained drones and missiles on Israel, and has also targeted Gulf countries allied with the US, which have refrained from engaging in direct hostilities for fear of further escalation.

Iran’s state television said drones struck US radar installations and US-linked aluminum plants in the United Arab Emirates and US military headquarters in Kuwait in retaliation for deadly attacks on Iranian industrial centers.

Iran earlier attacked an Israeli-affiliated ship in the strait with drones and set the ship on fire, state media quoted a Revolutionary Guards navy commander as saying.

Iran has introduced new air defense systems

The downing of the two US fighter jets shows the risks that US and Israeli aircraft still face, despite claims by Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the US military has full control of the skies over Iran.

Iranian fire downed a two-seat U.S. F-15E jet, officials from both countries said Friday, and a U.S. official said search and rescue efforts had recovered one of the crew.

Two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search for the missing crew members were hit by Iranian fire but cleared out of Iranian airspace, two US officials told Reuters.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing the southwestern region where the US plane was shot down, while the regional governor vowed to praise anyone who captures or kills “enemy forces”.

In another incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter jet crashed in Kuwait, ejecting the pilot, US officials said.

The Iranians, overwhelmed by air power, celebrated their success since the US and Israel launched the offensive.

The Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Friday it had deployed a new air-defense system, targeting a US fighter jet, three drones and two cruise missiles.

“The enemy should know that we are relying on the new air-defense systems built by the young, wise and proud people of this country, unveiling them one after the other in the field,” spokesman Khatam al-Anbiya said, according to Iran’s state media.

The Revolutionary Guards said they targeted various areas of Israel in a wave of missiles and drones. Israeli media reported that two warheads from an Iranian cluster missile fell near Israel’s Kiriya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Later on Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces said they had detected more missiles fired from Iran towards Israel.

Iran’s petrochemical zone has been hit

Iranian state media reported that five people were injured in an airstrike in a petrochemical field in southwest Iran. They later said they extinguished the fire there.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel attacked the plant, which an Israeli military spokesman said produced materials for explosives and missiles.

Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the terrorist group fired on Iran-backed Israel.

On Saturday morning, Israel’s military said it had attacked a rebel base in Beirut. An Israeli soldier was later reported killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Anas Alashrey and Hatam Maher in Cairo, Jerusalem bureau and Reuters worldwide; Writing by Clarence Fernandez, Mathias Williams, Alex Richardson and David Morgan; Editing by William Mallard, Sharon Singleman and O’Seron Singleman, Toby.