Trump says US airman rescued in Iran

WASHINGTON: 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'. Iran said it had 'completely foiled' the rescue operation, without however saying it had captured the US serviceman or denying that US forces had extracted him. The US announcement came as Trump warned the Islamic republic had until Monday to cut a deal or face 'all Hell'. The war, which erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has engulfed the Middle East and convulsed the global economy.
Trump said on Truth Social that the airman had been 'behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies.' '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 jeopardise our second rescue operation.'
- Abandoned airport -
The airman, a weapon systems officer, was equipped with a pistol, a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers, the New York Times reported. Two of the planes meant to transport him and his rescuers to safety were stuck in a remote base in Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, the New York Times and CBS reported. US forces then used three other transport planes to carry the airman and his rescuers out of Iran, the reports said.
Iran's military said it had destroyed four US aircraft involved in the operation, which it said had made use of an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province. Iranian media reported five people were killed in strikes during the operation. Footage released by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was presented as showing charred wreckage of an American aircraft scattered across a desert area, with smoke still rising. Iran has said its forces downed the fighter jet from which the crew ejected, while US media reported only that the plane had been shot down. The US administration has not said publicly if it was downed or not.
- Strikes on infrastructure -
Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, a vital conduit for oil and gas, and kept up a campaign of strikes on Israel and its Gulf neighbours. Critical infrastructure across the Gulf came under attack from Iran on Sunday with damage reported at civilian facilities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. US-Israeli attacks in Iran have hit targets that are key to the Islamic republic's economy, with a strike on a petrochemical hub in the southwest killing five people on Saturday, according to the deputy governor of Khuzestan province.
- Bushehr nuclear plant -
In Iran, a strike near the 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 that would 'end life in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) capitals, not Tehran'. Bushehr is considerably closer to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar than it is to the Iranian capital.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) wrote on X that no increase in radiation levels had been reported at the site, but nonetheless voiced 'deep concern' at what he said was the fourth such strike in recent weeks. Against the backdrop of war, Iran has kept up a crackdown weeks after it quelled a massive wave of anti-government protests, with the judiciary announcing the execution of two men convicted of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States. On Sunday, communications monitor Netblocks said Iran's internet blackout was now the longest nationwide shutdown in history.
A former director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog urged Gulf nations to prevent Donald Trump from turning the region into 'a ball of fire' after the US president's latest threat to Tehran. 'To the Gulf governments: Please, once again, do everything in your power before this madman turns the region into a ball of fire,' Mohamed El Baradei, who led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1997 to 2009, wrote on X.
In a separate post also referencing Trump's ultimatum to Iran that it will face 'all hell' unless it strikes a deal, El Baradei tagged UN and European Union accounts, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron. 'Nothing can be done to stop this madness?!' he wrote, also tagging the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries. — AFP