Trump says US airman rescued in Iran in ‘miraculous’ operation
· Citizen
President Donald Trump said Sunday that US forces had safely recovered a second airman downed in Iran, calling it “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History”.
The announcement came as Iran launched missiles and drones at Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi on Sunday, and a day after Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all Hell”.
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“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine.
“This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation.”
Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the US rescue operation.
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Iran said its forces had downed the plane, while US media reported that the plane had been shot down.
The US administration has not said publicly if it was downed.
The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread across the Middle East and convulsed the global economy.
Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a vital conduit for oil and gas, and kept up a campaign of strikes on Israel and its Gulf neighbours.
US-Israeli attacks in Iran have also hit targets that are key to the Islamic republic’s economy, with a strike on a petrochemical hub in the southwest killing five people on Saturday, according to the deputy governor of Khuzestan province.
‘Time is running out’
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26.
“Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.”
Iran’s central military command rejected the ultimatum, with General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump’s threat was a “helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.
Echoing Trump’s language, he warned that “the gates of hell will open for you”.
READ MORE: Iran warns civilians as Trump claims talks ‘going well’
Pakistan has offered to mediate efforts to end the war, and according to Iranian media Pakistan’s foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart spoke by phone on Saturday.
There was no sign, however, of a let up in the violence.
An Iranian drone sparked a fire in storage tank of Bahrain state energy firm Bapco Energies and a fire broke out at a petrochemical facility in Abu Dhabi because of falling debris.
‘People are terrified’
In Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it had targeted an Israeli warship with a cruise missile off the Lebanese coast. There was no confirmation from Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated a call for negotiations with Israel, saying he wanted to spare his country’s south from destruction on the scale seen in Gaza.
In the southern village of Debel, close to the Israeli border, inhabitants prepared to celebrate Easter Sunday despite the sound of bombardment around their village, now almost totally cut off from the world and dependent on aid deliveries.
READ MORE: Trump says Iran ‘better get serious’ in Middle East war talks
“The situation is tragic,” town notable Joseph Attieh told AFP by phone.
“People are terrified, and the sound of shelling and gunfire has not stopped for a moment since last night. We haven’t been able to sleep.
“We are putting our trust in God,” Attieh said, since “this is the only glimmer of hope we will not give up on”.
Bushehr nuclear plant
In Iran, a strike near the Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday killed a guard and led Russia, which partly constructed the facility and helps operate it, to announce it was evacuating 198 workers and to condemn the strike as “an evil deed”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that continued attacks on the plant on the southern coast could eventually lead to radioactive fallout that would “end life in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) capitals, not Tehran”.
Bushehr is considerably closer to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar than it is to the Iranian capital.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) wrote on X that no increase in radiation levels had been reported at the site, but nonetheless voiced “deep concern” at what he said was the fourth such strike in recent weeks.
The former director of the watchdog, meanwhile, urged Gulf nations to prevent Trump from turning the region into “a ball of fire” after the US president’s latest threat to Tehran.
“To the Gulf governments: Please, once again, do everything in your power before this madman turns the region into a ball of fire,” Mohamed El-Baradei, who led the IAEA from 1997 to 2009, wrote on X.
Against the backdrop of war, Iran has kept up a crackdown weeks after it quelled a massive wave of anti-government protests, with the judiciary announcing the execution of two men convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States.
On Sunday, communications monitor Netblocks said Iran’s internet blackout was now the longest nationwide shutdown in history.
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