Trump confirms on Truth Social rescue of second F-15 crew member<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has confirmed on Truth Social that the US has rescued the second crew member from a F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Identifying the crew member as a colonel, Trump wrote that US forces were monitoring his location \u201c24 hours a day\u201d and planning for his rescue.<\/p>\n \u201cWE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!\u201d<\/p>\n Trump said that at his direction, \u201cthe US Military sent dozens of aircraft\u201d to retrieve him, and claimed \u201cnot a single American\u201d was killed during the operation.<\/p>\n The jet\u2019s pilot was rescued on Friday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.44 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Operations at petrochemicals company Borouge\u2019s factory in Abu Dhabi have been suspended because of fires that started by falling debris after successful interceptions by air defense systems, but production at the plant has halted.<\/p>\n The plant is in Ruwais, near the UAE\u2019s western border with Saudi Arabia. It is a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis of Australia.<\/p>\n Authorities in the UAE capital said on Sunday no injuries had been reported, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Aid groups are warning that the war in the Middle East has upended their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world who are in need, and that the suffering will deepen if the violence continues.<\/p>\n The conflict has cut vital shipping routes, creating a global energy crisis and forcing aid groups to use costlier, more time-consuming routes.<\/p>\n Important pathways such as the strait of Hormuz have been effectively closed and routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi have also been affected.<\/p>\n The World Food Program says it has a huge amount of food stuck in transit, while the International Rescue Committee has $130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals intended for war-torn Sudan stranded in Dubai and about 670 boxes of therapeutic food meant for severely malnourished children in Somalia stuck in India. The UN Population Fund says it\u2019s delayed sending equipment to 16 countries.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n More images of the conflict engulfing the Middle East have come into the newsroom today.<\/p>\n Iranian rescuers search rubble for victims after US-Israeli airstrikes hit a building in Tehran on Friday. Photograph: Iranian Red Crescent\/UPI\/ShutterstockMohammad sits among the ruins of his family\u2019s shop, where his father worked for 40 years and where he worked for 10 years. The building was destroyed by US and Israeli attacks on Tehran. Photograph: Maryam Rahmanian\/ShutterstockA displaced family, who fled Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon, make a bonfire next to a tent used as a shelter in Beirut. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti\/APA destroyed building in Nabatieh in Lebanon. Israeli bombardments have turned the city into a ghost town. Photograph: Chris McGrath\/Getty ImagesIsraeli security forces inspect damage at an apartment building struck by an Iranian missile in Petah Tikva in Israel. Photograph: Erik Marmor\/Getty ImagesPedestrians look at a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh complex in Zanjan in north west Iran. Officials at the site say it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes last week. Photograph: Francisco Seco\/APOn the Beirut seafront, a young girl carries food in a plastic pot she received from a local NGO distributing hot dishes to people who fled south Lebanon. Photograph: Marwan Naamani\/ZUMA Press Wire\/ShutterstockFamily members grieve over the bodies of 19-year-old Fatma El Ibrahim and her sister, 23-year-old Sara El Ibrahim, killed when an Israeli airstrike struck their home in Lebanon\u2019s Nabatieh. Photograph: Chris McGrath\/Getty ImagesPalestinians inspect a vehicle targeted by an Israeli strike in the Maghazi camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip. Photograph: Eyad Baba\/AFP\/Getty ImagesA military vehicle passes a Peace Now banner erected by people protesting the war and the Israeli government, in the Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. Photograph: Atef Safadi\/EPAA woman waits for permission to cross back into Iran at the Shalamjah border crossing in south-eastern Iraq. Photograph: Hussein Faleh\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Iranian media has claims that a US aircraft was destroyed while searching for the crew member of a missing US F-15 fighter jet.<\/p>\n \u201cAn American enemy aircraft that was searching for the pilot of a downed fighter jet was destroyed by the fighters of Islam in the southern region of Isfahan,\u201d the Tasnim news agency quoted Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards as saying. The Guardian was unable to verify their claim.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump said that the second crew member from the jet that crashed inside Iran was \u201cSAFE and SOUND\u201d after a search and rescue operation. Trump said the US rescued both airmen \u201cwithout a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.47 EDT<\/p>\n A US air force weapons officer whose fighter jet was shot down in Iran<\/a> on Friday was rescued by US Special Operations forces in a Saturday night mission that took commandos deep into enemy territory, the New York Times has reported.<\/p>\n US commandos extracted the officer \u2013 who had been hiding with just a pistol as defence \u2013 in an operation that involved hundreds of troops, and dozens of US warplanes and helicopters, the Times reported, citing US officials.<\/p>\n The crew members of the F-15E Strike Eagle, the first lost to enemy fire in the war, ejected from their cockpit on Friday after they were attacked by Iranian forces. The jet\u2019s pilot was soon rescued.<\/p>\n Then, late on Saturday night, US attack aircraft reportedly dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys as US forces converged on the airman\u2019s location and engaged in a firefight with the enemy, two former senior military officials briefed on the operation told the Times.<\/p>\n A US air force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off last month at an undisclosed location. Photograph: Us Air Force\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Emirati air defences are responding to missile and drone attacks, the United Arab Emirates\u2019 defence ministry has said, as Iran<\/a> said it was targeting \u201caluminium industries\u201d in the Gulf nation.<\/p>\n \u201cUAE Air Defences \u2026 are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats,\u201d the ministry posted on X, providing no details about the origin of the attack.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s army said it was targeting \u201caluminum industries\u201d in the UAE and US military infrastructure in Kuwait, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump confirms on Truth Social rescue of second F-15 crew member<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump has confirmed on Truth Social that the US has rescued the second crew member from a F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n Identifying the crew member as a colonel, Trump wrote that US forces were monitoring his location \u201c24 hours a day\u201d and planning for his rescue.<\/p>\n \u201cWE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!\u201d<\/p>\n Trump said that at his direction, \u201cthe US Military sent dozens of aircraft\u201d to retrieve him, and claimed \u201cnot a single American\u201d was killed during the operation.<\/p>\n The jet\u2019s pilot was rescued on Friday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.44 EDT<\/p>\n US forces rescue second crew member of downed F-15 fighter jet, Reuters reports<\/p>\n Reuters is reporting it has been told by US officials that US forces have rescued the second crew member of a downed F-15 fighter jet in Iran<\/a>. On Friday, the pilot was rescued after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.47 EDT<\/p>\n A former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has urged Gulf nations to prevent Donald Trump from turning the region into \u201ca ball of fire\u201d, after the US president\u2019s latest threat to Tehran.<\/p>\n Mohamed El-Baradei<\/a>, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1997 to 2009, also tagged UN and European Union accounts, as well as French president Emmanuel Macron, in his posts online.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing can be done to stop this madness?!\u201d he wrote, also tagging the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries.<\/p>\n Former IAEA director general Mohamed El Baradei. Photograph: Roland Schlager\/EPA<\/p>\n Trump said Saturday that Iran must make a deal or reopen the vital strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively blocked since the US and Israel<\/a> launched their war on Iran in February.<\/p>\n \u201cTime is running out \u2013 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.\u201d<\/p>\n El-Baradei, an 83-year-old former Egyptian vice-president, led the IAEA during the start of the public controversy surrounding Iran\u2019s nuclear program. He and his organisation were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for their efforts to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s finance minister met with envoys from Gulf countries to shore up energy security and the safety of Korean vessels near the strait of Hormuz, the ministry said on Sunday, as the escalating Iran<\/a> war disrupts shipping.<\/p>\n In the meeting on Friday, Koo Yun-cheol asked the Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors to ensure a steady supply of oil, liquefied natural gas, naphtha, urea and other critical resources, and to ensure the safety of Korean vessels and crew near the vital strait, the ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n The envoys said South Korea is a \u201ctop priority\u201d nation and pledged to communicate closely with Seoul to ensure stable supply, the statement said.<\/p>\n Like other Asian economies, South Korea relies heavily on energy imports, including through the strait of Hormuz, which was a conduit for 20% of the world\u2019s oil before the US and Israel<\/a> launched the war in February.<\/p>\n South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol (R) attends an emergency meeting of economic ministers at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday. Photograph: YONHAP\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.30 EDT<\/p>\n Bahrain\u2019s interior ministry has said civil defence officials are working to contain a fire after an Iranian attack.<\/p>\n It comes as the government in Kuwait says energy infrastructure and water desalination plants were damaged in Sunday morning drone attacks by Iran.<\/p>\n The attacks resulted in \u201csignificant material damage and the shutdown of two electricity generating units\u201d, Kuwait electricity and water ministry said in a post on X, adding there were no deaths or injuries.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Iran rejects Trump’s demand to make a deal within 48 hours<\/p>\n Iran has rejected Donald Trump\u2019s demand that the regime cut a deal in 48 hours or face \u201call hell\u201d.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the US president posted on social media: \u201cRemember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,\u201d referring to an ultimatum issued on 26 March.<\/p>\n \u201cTime is running out \u2013 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s central military command rejected the ultimatum, with Gen Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump\u2019s threat was a \u201chelpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action\u201d.<\/p>\n Echoing Trump\u2019s language, he warned that \u201cthe gates of hell will open for you\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump later posted a video showing explosions lighting up a night sky along with text that said: \u201cMany of Iran\u2019s Military Leaders \u2026 are terminated, along with much else, with this massive strike in Tehran,\u201d without specifying when it took place.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Summary<\/p>\n Welcome to the Guardian\u2019s continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran<\/a> and the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel<\/a> and Kuwait early on Sunday, a day after Donald Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face \u201call Hell\u201d.<\/p>\n Kuwait and Israel said their air defences were responding to the latest attacks from Iran<\/a>, part of the war that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes that triggered retaliation by Tehran.<\/p>\n The war has spread conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy. Iran\u2019s forces maintain a tight grip on the strait of Hormuz shipping lane \u2013 a vital conduit for oil and gas \u2013 and strike economic targets in Gulf neighbours they see as linked to the US-Israeli war effort.<\/p>\n Elsewhere today:<\/p>\n The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that Israel<\/a> attacked Iran\u2019s petrochemical plants after reports from Iranian media saying at least five people were killed in an attack on the Mahshahr petrochemical zone.<\/p>\n US search and rescue efforts for the missing second crew member of the downed F-15E fighter jet continued into a second day as Iran came under heavy bombing. A pilot had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US plane to be downed over Iran<\/a> during the five-week-long war.<\/p>\n American and Israeli fighter jets targeted multiple strategic and civilian sites inside Iran\u2019s capital on Friday afternoon, including Shahid Beheshti University, one of the country\u2019s leading academic institutions, Iranian state media reported.<\/p>\n