U.S. and Iran race to find missing American crew member as Trump repeats threat over Strait of Hormuz

iranian language forces  were hunting for a missing U.S. Airplane pilot on sabbatum from unity of  2 warplanes downed over Iran and the Gulf, raising the ‌stakes for Washington as the war entered its sixth week with scant  prospect of peace talks in sight. 

The incidents show the risks still facing U.S. And Israeli aircraft over Iran, despite assertions by U.S. President Donald Trump and his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that U.S. Forces had  total control of the skies.

The prospect of a U.S. Service member alive and on the run in Iran comes days after Trump threatened to bomb Iran "back to  the Stone Ages" in a war that has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatened lasting damage to the ​world economy.

With Iran's leadership defiant since the start of the war,  its foreign minister in principle left the door ​open for peace  talks with the U.S. Via mediation from Pakistan, but gave no  sign of Tehran's willingness 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 terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that ​is  imposed on us," Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.

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

"Remember ⁠when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN  UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is ‌running out — 48 hours before all  Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!" he said in a  post on Truth Social.

American fighter jet shot down over Iran, search for crew member continues | Hanomansing Tonight

Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that a projectile hit a building on the perimeter of the country's Bushehr nuclear power plant, killing one of the facility's guards, the IAEA said on social media on Saturday.

There was no increase in radiation levels, the agency said, adding that it's the "fourth such incident in recent weeks."

The agency's director general Rafael Mariano Grossi is "reiterating call for maximum military restraint to avoid risk of a nuclear accident," the post says. "NPP (nuclear power plant) sites or nearby areas must never be attacked."

The incident is one of the latest amid Israel and the U.S.'s ongoing war in Iran, with Saturday marking yet another intense day.

Iranian state media reported airstrikes at a petrochemical zone in southwestern Iran, with five people reported injured so far, as well as airstrikes on warehouses storing bottled water in western Iran.

On Saturday, Iraq also closed its southern Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran after airstrikes on the Iranian side killed an Iraqi citizen, security sources told Reuters on Saturday.

The war has killed thousands and sparked an energy crisis since the initial U.S. And Israel attack that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran has effectively shut the ​Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world's total oil trade, in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli attacks that began on Feb. 28. Consequences have since reverberated around the world as countries manage rising oil prices.

On Saturday, Iran reportedly said it has authorized the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a letter cited by Iran's Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

The letter indicates that ships heading to Iranian ports, including those currently in the Gulf of Oman, must co-ordinate with authorities and comply with established protocols to transit the strait, Tasnim said.

As countries from Germany to Japan sought to deal with the fallout, five European Union finance ministers called for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies in reaction to rising fuel prices, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Meanwhile, Senegal's government axed all non-essential foreign travel by ministers and top officials, warning of "extremely difficult" times ahead as higher global oil prices strained the nation's budget.

Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices jumped 11 per cent on Thursday after U.S President Donald Trump offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war in a speech.

Iran has rained drones and missiles on Israel and taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the United States, which have held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.

On Saturday, authorities in Dubai said no injuries were reported after debris from aerial interceptions hit the facades of two buildings in the emirate, including that of U.S. Tech company Oracle in Dubai Internet City.

U.S. Will bomb Iran 'back to the stone ages' over the next few weeks, says Trump

Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran. Early on Saturday, Israel's military said it was striking the militants' infrastructure sites in Beirut.

Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait on Friday, after Trump threatened to hit Iran's bridges and power plants, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.

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

Two Black Hawk helicopters engaged in the search for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two U.S. Officials told Reuters.

The scale of injuries to the crew was unclear.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing a southwestern area near where the pilot's plane came down, while the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy."

With no end in sight, the conflict has left 13 U.S. Military service members dead and more than 300 wounded, the U.S. Central Command says.

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