TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday searched for a missing pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while President Donald Trump remained silent on the incident but reminded Tehran of his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.â€
The U.S. warplane, identified by Iran as a F-15E Strike Eagle, was on Friday, with one service member rescued. Iran has promised a reward for whoever turns in the missing pilot. It's the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, which could further pressure Trump to end the fighting.
Iran's joint military command on Saturday claimed it also struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters the day before, but The Associated Press could not independently verify that.
The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken , cut off key shipping routes and . It shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds with attacks across the region.
Trump earlier in the week said in that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.†The U.S. and Israel boasted that Iran’s air defenses were obliterated.
But on Saturday, an apparent Iranian drone damaged the headquarters of U.S. technology company Oracle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets and infrastructure in the war.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It's the fourth time the facility was targeted. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated.
Iran signals willingness to join talks
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track.†Last week, Pakistan said that between the U.S. and Iran.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that they “have never refused to go to Islamabad.â€
Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials. They said that they were working on bridging the gap between the two sides' demands to stop the war and reopen the .
The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.
Iran hunts for ‘enemy pilot’
The search for the U.S. pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released information, but in an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down†in the Middle East, without further details.
A U.S. crew member was rescued. But the Pentagon notified the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn't known.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said that what happened wouldn't affect negotiations with Iran.
Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iran's defense forces. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said that it wasn't clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down. The crew's status was not immediately known.
An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot†to police, a first in the war. Iran previously made claims about shooting down piloted aircraft that turned out not to be true.
Oracle's offices hit in Dubai
The Dubai headquarters of Oracle was hit after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm. Footage verified by the AP outside the U.A.E. showed a large hole in the building's southwestern corner.
The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade," saying there were no injuries.
Oracle Corp., based in Austin, Texas, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Guard has accused some large U.S. tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage†operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes.
Iran's veiled threat to disrupt second waterway
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab-el-Mandeb.
The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.
“What share of global oil, LNG, wheat, rice, and fertilizer shipments transits the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait?†Qalibaf wrote, referring to liquefied natural gas. “Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?â€
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.
In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people and there have been more than 1 million . Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington, contributed to this report.
