Trump says rescued US crew member ‘safe and sound’, calls mission daring

A US service member who had been missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been rescued, US President Donald Trump said in a social media post early Sunday.

A large-scale US search-and-rescue operation was launched after the crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle on Friday. Iranian authorities had reportedly offered a reward for anyone who turned in the “enemy pilot”.

A second crew member had already been rescued earlier.

Trump said the aviator was injured but “will be just fine”, adding that he had taken refuge “in the treacherous mountains of Iran”. The rescue mission involved “dozens of aircraft”, he said, and US forces had been tracking the pilot’s location “24 hours a day and diligently planning for his rescue”.

Dozens of aircraft sent behind enemy lines: Trump

Trump said in his Truth Social post that the US military “sent dozens of aircraft” to Iran to rescue the missing crew member.

He described the location of the missing officer as “behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran”.

Earlier reports suggested the crew member might have been in the mountainous region of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in southwestern Iran.

'No Americans killed in rescue mission'

Announcing the operation on Truth Social, Trump said the mission was carried out “without a single American killed, or even wounded”.

The statement came after reports that there had been “engagement” between US and Iranian forces during the rescue operation.

Trump concluded his message with: “God bless America, God bless our troops, and Happy Easter to all.”

Rescued pilot injured but stable

Trump said the recovered crew member “sustained injuries, but he will be just fine”.

He described the mission as “miraculous”, noting that another pilot had been rescued a day earlier. That first rescue had not been publicly confirmed to avoid jeopardising the second operation.

“We will never leave an American warfighter behind,” Trump wrote.

In a separate post, Trump said the previously missing crew member was now “safe and sound” after being recovered by US military forces.

“Over the past several hours, the United States military pulled off one of the most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history,” he wrote.

Trump described the rescued officer as a “highly respected colonel” who had been “behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran”, while US forces closely monitored his location.

‘Never leave someone behind,’ officials say

Mick Mulroy, a former US Marine and CIA paramilitary officer, said the rescue reflected the military’s long-standing commitment to its personnel.

“The US military has an ethos to never leave someone behind,” Mulroy said.

“Today was an incredible example of that core commitment. The US military, the intelligence community and especially those who carried this out deserve the gratitude of the American people.”

First US aircraft crash in Iran since war began

The fighter jet was the first US aircraft to crash in Iranian territory since the conflict began in late February.

The search operation reportedly focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has since killed thousands, shaken global markets, disrupted key shipping routes and driven up fuel prices.

Both sides have threatened and struck civilian targets, prompting warnings of possible war crimes.

Another US aircraft reportedly goes down

Another aircraft reported to have gone down was a US A-10 Thunderbolt II.

The status of its crew and the exact crash location were not immediately known.

Iran’s joint military command also claimed it struck two US Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters on Friday, though the claim could not be independently verified.

Trump renews threat over Strait of Hormuz

Trump renewed his warning for Iran to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy shipments.

In a social media post, Trump wrote: “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.”

Iranian military commander Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi responded by warning that “the doors of hell will be opened” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, while also threatening US military infrastructure in the region.

 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 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.

The former director of the watchdog, meanwhile, urged Gulf nations to prevent Trump from turning the region into "a ball of fire" after the US president's latest threat to Tehran.

Mediation efforts under way

Despite the escalating rhetoric, diplomatic efforts are continuing.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad’s attempts to broker a ceasefire were “right on track”.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranian officials “have never refused to go to Islamabad”.

Officials from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring both sides to the negotiating table, according to regional diplomats familiar with the discussions.

Iran hints at threat to Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued a veiled warning about disrupting traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The strait, about 32 kilometres wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of global seaborne oil and roughly a quarter of container shipping pass through it.

“Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote.

War toll rises across the region

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. Nineteen deaths have been reported in Israel, while 13 US service members have been killed.

In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and more than one million people displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.