Live updates: Follow the latest news on the Iran war
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the crew member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, as Tehran and Washington ramped up threats ahead of a deadline over the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
He said the airman, the weapons officer in a two-seat F-15E Strike Eagle, evaded Iranian forces for two days before being found by US special forces. The pilot was rescued separately in the hours following the Friday crash.
"We got him!" Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said the rescue involved "one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history".
"He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine", he wrote. "We will never leave an American warfighter behind!"
The US and Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) raced to locate the airman, described by Mr Trump as a colonel in rank, when two warplanes were shot down over Iran and the Gulf on Friday.
A second aircraft, a single-seat A-10 Warthog, was also hit and crashed over Kuwait, with its pilot ejecting safely.
The CIA reportedly carried out a deception campaign in Iran, spreading word that the missing airman had already been found, prior to locating him, Axios reported on Sunday, citing a senior official.
The official said this was the "ultimate needle in a haystack." Before locating him, the agency reportedly spread word inside Iran that US forces had found him and were moving him on the ground to be taken out of the country.
Once he was located, Mr Trump ordered an immediate rescue mission, the official added.
The episode highlights the increasing risks faced by US forces as the conflict intensifies.
Iran has threatened “devastating strikes” against US and Israeli assets ahead of an April 6 deadline to reach a deal, warning of escalation if attacks continue. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the Khatam Al Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement early on Saturday that Iran’s armed forces would respond with “overwhelming force” to any further escalation.
Mr Trump has sent mixed messages ranging from hints of diplomatic progress to threats to bomb the Islamic Republic "back to the Stone Ages" since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28.
Mr Trump, who has previously threatened to hit Iranian power plants if his demands were not met, told Tehran 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 down on them. Glory be to God!" he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The war has killed thousands, sparked an energy crisis and threatens lasting damage to the world economy after Iran virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, which usually carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
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 Araghchi said on X.
