Trump says airman rescued in Iran
TEHRAN, IRAN—President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US forces had safely recovered a second airman downed in Iran, calling it “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History.”
The announcement came as Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and Kuwait on early Sunday and a day after Trump said the Islamic republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face “all Hell.”
“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies,” Trump said on Truth Social. “He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine.”
“This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation.”
The war has spread conflict throughout the Middle East and convulsed the global economy.
Iran’s forces maintain a tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane—a vital conduit for oil and gas—and strike economic targets in Gulf neighbors they see as linked to the US-Israeli war effort.
The economic strikes are also going the other way. An Israeli or US strike on a petrochemical hub in the southwest of Iran killed five people on Saturday, according to the deputy governor of Khuzestan province.
‘Time is running out’
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on Saturday on Truth Social, referring to an ultimatum issued on March 26.
“Time is running out—48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.”
Iran’s central military command rejected the ultimatum, with Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump’s threat was a “helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action.”
Echoing Trump’s language, he warned that “the gates of hell will open for you.”
Kuwait and Israel said their air defenses were responding on Sunday to the latest attacks from Iran, part of the war that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes that triggered retaliation by Tehran.
The United Arab Emirates also said its air defenses were responding to missile attacks Tehran said were targeting the country’s aluminum industries, while Bahrain officials reported a fire at a refinery “as a result of Iranian aggression.”
Bushehr nuclear plant
A strike near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday killed a guard and led Russia, which partly constructed the facility and helps operate it, to announce it was evacuating 198 workers and to condemn the strike as “an evil deed.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that continued attacks on the plant on the southern coast could eventually lead to radioactive fallout.
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