By Phil Stewart and Enas Alashray
WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) – The United States rescued an airman caught behind enemy lines after Iran shot down his F-15 fighter jet, the U.S. government said early on Sunday, resolving a crisis for President Donald Trump with the war on Iran in its sixth week.
The rescue is a bright spot for the United States in a war that has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatens lasting damage to the world economy after Iran virtually shut the vital Strait of Hormuz.
Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Saturday for Iran to open the strait, which usually carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas, or face attacks on energy facilities.
TRUMP GIVES IRAN MONDAY DEADLINE FOR PEACE DEAL
The injured airman was the second of the two crew members from the warplane Iran said on Friday it had brought down with its air defenses, triggering a high-profile search by both Tehran and the United States.
“Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” Trump said in a statement posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.
Although injured, the colonel “will be just fine,” Trump said.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several aircraft were destroyed during the U.S. rescue mission, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday, according to the Tasnim news agency. An Iranian military spokesman said a C-130 military transport plane and two Black Hawk helicopters were among the downed craft.
Trump, who has threatened to hit Iranian power plants if his demands were not met, indicated his deadline for Tehran to reach a deal to end the war was around 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday.
“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 (sic) down on them. Glory be to GOD!” he posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning.
As the war has escalated, Trump has repeatedly mixed hints of diplomatic progress with threats to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages.”
Adding to the pressure, a senior Israeli defense official said Israel was preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities within the next week, and was awaiting approval from the United States.
But a defiant Iran warned the “entire region will become a hell for you” if the United States and Israel escalated attacks, Iranian media said.
Chances for peace talks, which Pakistan is seeking to broker between Washington and Tehran, appear to remain slim, and polls show low U.S. public support for the war.
IRAN WANTS ‘LASTING END TO ILLEGAL WAR’
Still, Iran’s foreign minister left the door open for the talks.
“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, adding that Iran had never refused to go to Islamabad, which he thanked for its efforts.
After a fourth attack near the Bushehr power plant on Saturday, Araqchi warned the United Nations of an “intolerable situation that poses a serious risk of radiological release,” state media said.
Iran has rained drones and missiles on Israel, while targeting Gulf countries allied to the United States, which have avoided directly joining the war for fear of further escalation.
State TV said Iran’s military launched drones at U.S. radar installations and a U.S.-linked aluminum plant in the United Arab Emirates and U.S. military headquarters in Kuwait, in retaliation for deadly attacks on Iranian industrial centers.
Kuwaiti state media, citing the finance ministry, said an Iranian drone hit an office complex for government ministries, causing significant damage but no casualties, in an attack Kuwait Petroleum Corp blamed for a fire there.
Iran earlier attacked an Israel-affiliated vessel with a drone in the Strait, setting the ship on fire, state media said, citing the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis also said on Saturday they attacked Israel with a ballistic missile and drones, in a joint effort with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. It gave no evidence of the damage caused.
Israel did not confirm the attack.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali in Washington, Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher in Cairo, Jerusalem bureau and Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by David Morgan and Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Rod Nickel, Cynthia Osterman and William Mallard)
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