US President Donald Trump and Israel yesterday stepped up pressure on Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz waterway or face attacks on its energy infrastructure, while Iranian and US forces searched for a missing US crew member from one of two downed warplanes.
Trump, who has sent mixed messages since the conflict began with a joint US-Israeli bombardment of Iran on February 28, told Tehran that his latest deadline for a deal to end the war was fast approaching. “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 wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump’s messaging about the war has veered between hinting at diplomatic progress and making threats to bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages”. In an apparent move to heap further pressure on Tehran following Trump’s latest ultimatum, a senior Israeli defence official said Israel was preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities, and was awaiting the green light from the US.
The timeframe for such attacks would be within the next week, the official said.
Trump has previously threatened to hit Iranian power plants if his demands were not met. Washington faced heightened stakes as the conflict entered its sixth week, with the prospect of a US service member alive and on the run in Iran, slim chances for peace talks and polls showing low public support for the war.
With Iran’s leadership defiant since the start of the conflict, its foreign minister left the door open in principle for peace talks with the US 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. The war has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatened lasting damage to the world economy. Iran has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.
Iran has rained drones and missiles down on Israel, and also taken aim at Gulf countries.
The downing of two US warplanes shows the risks still facing US and Israeli aircraft, despite assertions by Trump and his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that US forces had total control of the skies over Iran.
Iranian fire brought down a two-seat US F-15E jet, officials in both countries said on Friday, and a US official said search-and-rescue efforts had recovered one of the crew.
Two Black Hawk helicopters engaged in the search for the missing crew member were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two US officials told Reuters.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing a southwestern area near where the US plane came down, while the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed ‘forces of the hostile enemy’.
In a separate incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, the US officials said.
The Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted various areas in Israel in a wave of missiles and drones. Israeli media reported that two warheads from an Iranian cluster missile landed near Israel’s Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Later yesterday, the Israel Defence Forces said they had detected more missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.
Iranian state media reported air strikes at a petrochemical zone in southwestern Iran, with five people reported injured. They later said a fire there had been extinguished.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had struck the plant, which an Israeli military spokesperson said produced materials for explosives and missiles.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hizbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.
Early yesterday, Israel’s military said it was striking the militants’ infrastructure sites in Beirut.
It later said an Israeli soldier had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon.
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