{"id":381509,"date":"2026-04-04T10:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381509\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T10:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T10:51:09","slug":"search-under-way-for-missing-crew-member-after-us-fighter-jet-shot-down-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/381509\/","title":{"rendered":"Search under way for missing crew member after US fighter jet shot down \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Main PointsIran<\/a> has shot down two US<\/a> military planes in separate attacks, with one service member rescued and at least one missing.An Iranian official called for a widespread chase to locate the F-15E fighter crew as the local governor offered a reward for anyone who captured or killed them.Iran\u2019s military said it also downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot was rescued.Key ReadsWhite House reshuffle rumoured as Trump battles political fallout from war<\/p>\n

US president Donald Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of attorney general Pam Bondi\u2019s removal this week, as he grows increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war with Iran. <\/p>\n

The five-week-old war has driven up gas prices, dragged down Trump\u2019s approval ratings and intensified anxiety about the consequences for Republicans heading into November\u2019s midterm elections. <\/p>\n

Five people familar with internal White House discussions said a personnel shake-up was on the cards.<\/p>\n

Several of the sources said Tulsi Gabbard, Trump\u2019s director of national intelligence, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are among those potentially on the chopping block, after Trump ousted Bondi and homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in recent weeks. – Reuters<\/p>\n

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged \u201cmaximum military restraint to avoid risk of a nuclear accident\u201d following the attack on Iran\u2019s Bushehr nuclear power plant this morning.<\/p>\n

Iran reported a projectile had struck \u201cclose to the premises\u201d but IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said plants \u201cor nearby areas must never be attacked\u201d.<\/p>\n

The IAEA said no increase in radiation levels has been reported.<\/p>\n

War taking heavy toll on children of the Middle East<\/p>\n

Millions of children have been plunged into crisis by the war in the Middle East, with reports of child soldiers in Iran, mass forced displacements in Lebanon and the killing of hundreds of minors, The Guardian reports.<\/p>\n

Catherine Russell, executive director of Unicef, the UN agency for children, is quoted as saying more than 340 children have been killed and thousands injured since the US and Israel launched their attacks on Iran, which has retaliated with bombings across the region.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s invasion of Lebanon \u2013 and its continued attacks in the occupied West Bank and Gaza \u2013 have compounded the bloodshed. Across the region, more than 1.2 million children have been displaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren in the region are being exposed to horrific violence, while the very systems and services meant to keep them safe are coming under attack,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n

\"DisplacedDisplaced young children sit outside their tents at an unofficial camp for displaced people on Beirut’s waterfront area on April 2th. Photo by Joseph EID \/ AFP via Getty Images Missile strike kills one near Iran nuclear power plant <\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s Bushehr nuclear power plant has been targeted in a US-Israeli attack on Friday morning, with a projectile striking the grounds near the facility, according to Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency. <\/p>\n

One person was killed and the plant\u2019s auxiliary buildings sustained damage, the news agency reported. <\/p>\n

It added that there was no damage to the main section of the power plant and operations remain unaffected. <\/p>\n

The news agency claimed it was the fourth attack on the power plant since the outbreak of war.<\/p>\n

The US and Israel have not immediately commented on the claims.<\/p>\n

Dubai authorities said \u200con Saturday no injuries were \u200breported after debris fell on \u200bthe facade of \u2060an Oracle building \u200cin \u200cthe \u200bemirate\u2019s Internet City following \u2060an \u200baerial interception.<\/p>\n

\"AA view from Creek Harbour of the Dubai skyline, with the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Photograph: Fadel Senna\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Oracle \u200bfeatured \u200con a list \u200bof 18 US \u2060companies \u2060Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has vowed to target \u200cin retaliation \u2060for attacks on the country. <\/p>\n

Israel claims to have hit targets in Tehran <\/p>\n

The Israeli <\/a>military has said it hit air defence sites and missile storage facilities during a wave of airstrikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Friday. <\/p>\n

Among the targets was a site belonging to Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) \u201cwhere missiles intended to strike aircraft were stored\u201d, the Israel Defense Forces<\/a> (IDF) said. <\/p>\n

The US and Israel have been bombing military sites in Iran over the past five weeks to erode Tehran\u2019s ability to retaliate, but US intelligence assessments suggest they have yet to achieve that objective. <\/p>\n

Citing such assessments, the New York Times reported that Iranian operatives have been digging out underground missile bunkers and silos struck by US-Israel strikes and returning them to operation hours after an attack. <\/p>\n

CNN also reported US sources as saying about a half of Iran\u2019s missile launchers are still intact. <\/p>\n

The reports contradict remarks by Donald Trump <\/a>earlier this week, that Iran\u2019s \u201cability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed\u201d and that the war was \u201cnearing completion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"USUS soldiers examine the results of a B-29 Superfortress bomb run on the streets of the Ginza district, Tokyo, in June 1945. Two months later the US would drop atomic bombs on Japan. Photograph: Getty \u2018Back to the Stone Ages\u2019 threat resonates profoundly in Japan<\/p>\n

US president Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> threat to bomb Iran<\/a>, a country of about 93 million people, \u201cback into the Stone Ages\u201d has special resonance in Japan<\/a>, writes David McNeill<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth<\/a>, later doubled down on the threat on X when he posted: \u201cBack to the Stone Age\u201d.<\/p>\n

The phrase is attributed to Curtis LeMay, the US Air Force general responsible for America\u2019s firebombing campaign against Japanese cities in 1945.<\/p>\n

McNeill writes that more than 60 Japanese cities were bombed in 1945<\/a> \u2013 almost every urban centre in the country. By the time the droning of bombers had stopped, up to half a million people were dead.<\/p>\n

Japan is regularly invoked in America\u2019s contemporary wars. Last year, during the first US strikes on Iran, Donald Trump compared them to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. \u201cThat hit ended the war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At a White House meeting with Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi last month, Trump made a now-notorious jibe about Japan\u2019s attack on the US\u2019s Pacific fleet in December 1941<\/a>that drew the United States into the second World War<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Police investigate explosion at Israel Centre in Netherlands<\/p>\n

Dutch \u200cpolice are investigating reports of an explosion \u200bovernight at the Israel Centre in the central Dutch \u200btown of Nijkerk.<\/p>\n

There were no \u2060reports of injuries and \u200cthe \u200cdamage \u200bat the site, run by the \u2060Christians \u200bfor Israel charity, \u200bwas minimal, a police \u200cstatement posted on \u200bsocial media said.<\/p>\n

It was \u2060not clear \u2060if \u200bthe incident was related to a series of attacks against Jewish sites in Europe since \u200cthe war in \u2060Iran.<\/p>\n

Police said there had been no \u200carrests and appealed for witnesses to \u200bcome forward.<\/p>\n

Israel attacks Hizbullah targets in Beirut<\/p>\n

The \u200cIsraeli military \u200bsaid early \u200bon Saturday \u2060it \u200chad \u200cbegun \u200bstriking \u2060infrastructure \u200bsites \u200bof \u200cthe Lebanese militant \u200bgroup \u2060Hizbullah \u2060in \u200bBeirut.<\/p>\n

Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday and smoke was billowing from the area of one of them, AFP is reporting.<\/p>\n

Local media reported two strikes on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, an area that has been a target of repeated Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its ground invasion in the country\u2019s south as it seeks to establish a \u201csecurity zone\u201d. \u2013 Agencies<\/p>\n

A major search and rescue operation<\/a> was under way on Friday night for a crew member of the F-15E fighter.<\/p>\n

US helicopters, planes and reconnaissance drones took part in the search. Iranian state media released images of a tail fin and other debris allegedly from the downed plane, claiming that it had been hit by a new air defence system over central Iran and the pilot probably killed.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an Iranian official called for a widespread chase to locate the F-15E fighter crew as the local governor offered a reward for anyone who captured or killed them.<\/p>\n

One US service member was rescued and at least one was missing after Iran shot down two US military planes in separate attacks in a dramatic development in the war.<\/p>\n

It was the first time US aircraft had been downed in the conflict and came just two days after US president Donald Trump<\/a> said in a national address that the US has \u201cbeaten and completely decimated Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said.<\/p>\n

A US crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a US military search-and-rescue operation was under way.<\/p>\n

Separately, Iranian state media said a US A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defence forces. \u2013 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Main PointsIran has shot down two US military planes in separate attacks, with one service member rescued and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10748,969,5485,42,11829,3410,150432,14396,43,40,38,41,39,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-381509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-binyamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-energy-costs","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-iran","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-israel-iran-conflict","15":"tag-lebanon","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories","21":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}