Iran Leaves Door Open For Peace Talks As Hunt For Missing U.S. Pilot Continues

CAIRO/WASHINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) – Iranian forces were searching for the missing U.S. pilot from one of two warplanes shot down over Iran and the Gulf on Saturday. war It entered its sixth week with little hope for peace talks.

Incidents show risks US and Israeli aircraft still face over Iran despite President’s claims Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces have full control of the skies.

The possibility that a US soldier is alive and fugitive in Iran comes just days after Trump threatened to bomb Iran in a bid to “return it to the Stone Age”. killed thousandsIt has sparked an energy crisis and threatens to cause permanent damage to the world economy.

With Iran’s leadership defiant since the start of the war, the foreign minister has in principle left the door open to peace talks with the United States through Pakistan’s mediation, but has given no sign that Tehran is willing to bow to Trump’s demands.

“We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the conditions for a definitive and permanent END to the illegal war imposed on us,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told X.

Trump on Saturday repeated his threat to intensify attacks on Iran if it fails to reach a deal or open the key waterway of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Remember I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN THE THROAT OF HORUZ. Time is running out – 48 hours before Hell comes upon them. Praise be to GOD!” he said in a post on Truth Social.

While the conflict continues, Iran was attacked An Israeli ship was set on fire by a drone in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said on Saturday, citing the commander of the Revolutionary Guard navy.

Iran has virtually closed the strait, which normally carries one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

Officials in both countries said Iranian fire shot down a two-seat US F-15E jet, while two US officials said the pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter jet that crashed in Kuwait after being hit by Iranian fire.

Two US officials told Reuters that two Black Hawk helicopters trying to search for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but left Iranian airspace.

The extent of the crew’s injuries was unclear.

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

Iranians, who have been attacked by their air forces since the US and Israel began their attacks on February 28, celebrated the plane crashes.

The Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Friday it used a new air defense system to target a US warplane, three unmanned aerial vehicles and two cruise missiles.

“The enemy must know that we rely on new air defense systems, built by the young, knowledgeable and proud people of this country and introduced one after another in the field,” a spokesman for Khatam al-Anbiya said, according to Iranian state media.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards said that they targeted various regions of Israel with missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. According to the statement read on state television, they also targeted US HIMARS rocket launcher batteries in Kuwait and Patriot missile batteries in Bahrain.

Increasingly disappointed with the political consequences of the war, Trump is considering a new step wider cabinet reshuffle That comes after Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired this week, people familiar with the discussions said.

Any potential change could serve as a reset for the White House, which faces rising gas prices, falling ratings and concerns for Republicans approaching midterm elections in November.

“(The US) has got themselves into a sort of double bind. If they leave, that would look really bad, and if they try to inflict a comprehensive defeat on Iran, that would look really bad, too,” said Gareth Stansfield, a professor of Middle East politics at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

“This time they managed to get themselves into a lose-lose situation.”

Iranian state media reported air strikes Five people have been reported injured so far in a petrochemical region in southwestern Iran.

A bullet also hit an auxiliary building near Iran’s perimeter. Bushehr Tasnim news agency reported that one person died at the nuclear power plant. The facility’s operations were not affected.

Russian news agencies reported that Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom evacuated another 198 personnel from the facility on Saturday. reportedin evacuations that were already planned before the latest incident.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had launched “a wave of attacks” on Tehran.

Israel is waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group opened fire on Israel in support of Iran. Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army announced that militants had hit infrastructure facilities in Beirut.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart from Reuters bureaus in Washington; Writing by Clarence Fernandez and Matthias Williams; Editing by William Mallard and Sharon Singleton)