Downed Planes Raise New Perils For Trump As Tehran Hunts For Missing U.S. Pilot

WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 3 (Reuters) – Iranian and U.S. officials said on Friday that two U.S. warplanes were shot down over Iran and the Gulf, two pilots were rescued, while the third is still missing and sought by Tehran forces.

The incidents show the risks that US and Israeli aircraft still face over Iran, despite claims by US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces have full control of the skies.

Officials in both countries said the first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was hit by Iranian fire.

The second plane, an A-10 Warthog fighter jet, was hit by Iranian fire and crashed over Kuwait when the pilot ejected, two US officials said.

Two US officials told Reuters that two Blackhawk helicopters involved in the search for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but left Iranian airspace.

The extent of injuries to the plane’s crew remains unclear. The condition and whereabouts of the missing F-15E crew member have not been made public.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it was combing the area in southwestern Iran near where the pilot’s plane crashed, and the regional governor promised praise to anyone who captured or killed “forces of the hostile enemy.”

Iranians, who have been under attack by the American air force for weeks, published joyful messages celebrating the plane crashes. Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Qalibaf said in X that the war between the USA and Israel “has been reduced from regime change to pilot hunting”.

Trump was at the White House to get updates on the search and rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The possibility that a US soldier is alive and at large in Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict where public support is low and there is no sign of an imminent end.

Iran has officially told mediators that it is not ready to meet with U.S. officials in Islamabad in the coming days and that Pakistan-led efforts to broker a ceasefire have reached an impasse, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The United States and Israel launched the campaign on February 28 with a wave of attacks that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The war has killed thousands and threatens to cause permanent damage to the global economy.

So far, 13 US soldiers have been killed and more than 300 others have been injured in the conflict, according to US Central Command.

Iran rained down drones and missiles on Israel. It also targeted US-allied Gulf countries, which have so far refrained from directly participating in the war for fear of further escalation.

The US embassy in Beirut said in a security alert on Friday that Iran and its armed groups could target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights resumed.

Israel is waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group opened fire on Israel in support of Iran.

On Friday, Iran struck a power and water facility in Kuwait as Trump threatened to hit bridges and power plants; This underlined the vulnerability of Gulf countries, which are heavily dependent on desalination plants for drinking water.

On Thursday, Trump posted images on social media showing dust and smoke billowing as U.S. strikes hit the newly built B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, scheduled to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.

“Our largest and most powerful Army anywhere in the world (by far!) hasn’t even begun to destroy what’s left in Iran. Next are the bridges, then the Power Plants!” In a later article he wrote:

On Friday, a drone crashed into the Red Crescent aid warehouse in the Chogadak region of Bushehr province in southern Iran.

Kuwait Oil Company said the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by drones. Other attacks were reportedly foiled in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris crashed near Israel’s Haifa port, where a major oil refinery is located.

Oil markets were closed after US crude oil prices rose 11 percent on Thursday following Trump’s speech that offered no clear sign that the war would end soon.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart from Reuters bureaus in Washington; Writing by James Mackenzie and Sharon Singleton; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Bill Berkrot and David Gregorio)