US service member missing after Iran shot down fighter jet has been rescued
WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S. soldier missing since Iran shot down a warplane has been rescued, President Donald Trump wrote in a social media post early Sunday.
A frantic US search and rescue operation was launched following the crash of an F-15E Strike Eaglejet on Friday, while Iran promised a reward to anyone who handed over the “enemy pilot”. “This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Persia, hunted by our enemies who were closing in with each passing hour,” he wrote.
A second crew member had been rescued earlier.
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, hunted by our enemies who were getting closer with every hour,” Trump wrote.
Trump said the airman was injured but “will be okay,” adding that the rescue was carried out by “dozens of planes” and that the United States was monitoring his location “24 hours a day” and carefully planning for his rescue.
The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to crash into Iranian territory since the conflict in late February.
Trump said last week that the United States had “massively destroyed” Iran and would end the war “very quickly.” Two days later, Iran shot down two US military aircraft, demonstrating the continuing dangers of the bombing campaign and its ability to carry out an attack. Iran’s military continues to step back.
The war began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli attacks, killing and shaking thousands of people. global marketscut off important shipping routes and Fuel prices have increased. Both sides threatened and struck civilian targets; possible war crimes.
The other jet that crashed was a US A-10 attack plane. Neither the crew’s condition nor exactly where they crashed was immediately known.
Trump renewed his threat
Trump reiterates threat to open door to Iran Strait of HormuzIran, a key waterway for global energy shipments blocked by Tehran until Monday or face devastating consequences, wrote in a social media post on Saturday: “Remember I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN THE STRAITS OF HORmuz. Time is running out – 48 hours until Hell comes upon them.”
If Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, General Ali Abdullahi Aliabadi, along with the country’s joint military command, said on Saturday, “The gates of hell will be opened to you,” in response to Trump’s renewed threat, state media reported. In response, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the US military in the region.
But Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told The Associated Press that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire were “on the right track” after Islamabad said last week. will host talks soon Between the USA and Iran.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranian officials “never refused to go to Islamabad.”
Mediators from Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt were working to bring the United States and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.
The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow for 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.
A second U.S. Air Force fighter jet was shot down in the Middle East on Friday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation. It is not yet known whether the plane crashed, was shot down, or whether Iran was involved in the incident.
Iranian state media reported that a US A-10 attack plane crashed in the Persian Gulf after being shot down by Iranian defense forces.
Bab el Mandeb Strait
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday that he would disrupt traffic in the Bab al-Mandeb, the second strategic waterway in the region.
The 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide strait connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of global oil transported by sea and a quarter of container ships pass through here.
“Which countries and companies carry out the highest transit volume in the Bosphorus?” Kalibaf wrote.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the war.
More than two dozen people died in the Gulf Arab countries and the occupied West Bank, while 19 people died in Israel and 13 in the USA. service members was killed. More than 1,400 people in Lebanon was killed and more than 1 million people displaced. 10 Israeli soldiers died there.
___
Jon Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Samy Magdy reported from Cairo. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.
