WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Sunday it had rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump stepped up pressure on Tehran and renewed his threat to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The pilot was injured but “will be fine,” Trump wrote in a social media post, adding that the rescue involved “dozens of planes” and that the United States had been monitoring his location ahead of the rescue.
“This brave warrior is behind enemy lines in the dangerous mountains of Iran, being hunted by our enemies as they get closer,” Trump wrote.
A frantic U.S. search and rescue operation rescued the pilot after an F-15E Strike Eagle crashed on Friday, and Iran has promised to reward anyone who reports on “enemy pilots.”
A second crew member was rescued earlier.
The fighter jet was the first U.S. aircraft to crash in Iran since the outbreak of the war, which is now entering its sixth week.
Trump said last week that the United States had “destroyed” Iran and would end the war “very soon.” Two days later, Iran shot down two U.S. military planes, demonstrating the continued dangers of the bombing campaign and the Iranian military’s ability to continue to fight back.
The other plane that crashed was an American A-10 attack aircraft. The condition of the crew and the exact location of the crash was unclear.
Drone attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure
An Iranian drone strike caused severe damage to two Kuwaiti power plants and caused a desalination station to be taken out of service, according to Kuwait’s Electricity Ministry. The attack caused no casualties, the ministry said.
In Bahrain, the national oil company said a drone strike caused a fire at one of its storage facilities but that it had been extinguished. The damage was still being assessed and no reports of casualties had been received, the statement said.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to multiple fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Austria’s Borealis. They said the fire was caused by falling debris after a successful interception by an air defense system, but production had been halted at the Ruwais factory in western UAE near the border with Saudi Arabia.
The attack came a day after Israel attacked an Iranian petrochemical plant that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said generated revenue that had been used to fund the war.
The war, which began with a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on February 28, has killed thousands, rocked global markets, cut off major shipping routes and sent fuel prices soaring. Both sides have threatened and attacked civilian targets and warned of possible war crimes.
Trump threatens again
Trump once again threatened Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face devastating consequences, writing in a social media post on Saturday: “Remember I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open the Strait of Hormuz. Time is running out – 48 hours left, hell will be upon them.”
The waterway is a key hub for global energy transport, particularly oil and gas from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Disruptions there have brought volatility to the market and forced oil and gas importing countries to seek alternative sources.
Gen. Ali Abdullahi Aliabadi of Iran’s Joint Military Command responded to Trump’s new threat late Saturday by saying “the gates of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, state media reported. In turn, the general threatens all the infrastructure used by U.S. forces in the region.
But Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told The Associated Press that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire were “on track” after Islamabad said last week it would soon host talks between the United States and Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranian officials “never refused to go to Islamabad.”
Mediators from Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt are working to bring the United States and Iran to the negotiating table, two regional officials said.
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 with knowledge of the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy behind closed doors.
Iran threatens to disrupt traffic in second key strait
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the region’s second strategic waterway.
The strait is 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide and connects the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than one-tenth of the world’s seaborne oil and a quarter of the world’s container ships pass through here.
“Which countries and companies have the highest volume of channel transit?” Qalibaf wrote.
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.
More than two dozen people have died in the Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, with 19 reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers died there.
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The report has been corrected to show that Borealis is an Austrian company, not an Australian one.
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Metz reported from Jerusalem. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Samy Magdy in Cairo; Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.
