By Phil Stewart and Menna AlaaElDin
WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) – U.S. special forces rescued an airman in a high-risk mission deep inside Iran while President Donald Trump threatened to rain “hell” on Tehran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday for oil flows vital to the world economy.
Trump announced the rescue in the early hours of Sunday in a social media post that described the operation in a mountainous area as “one of the most daring” such missions in U.S. history.
The airman, the weapons officer of an F-15 jet shot down on Friday, was wounded but “will be just fine”, Trump said in a message on X. The jet’s pilot was rescued later that day.
In another post laden with expletives, Trump told Iran to open the Hormuz waterway, the conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply that has been largely shut down since the war began five weeks ago.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” he said on his Truth Social platform, threatening to hit energy and transport infrastructure that critics say would violate international law.
“There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Adding to the pressure, Washington’s ally in the war, Israel – which attacked a major petrochemicals facility in Iran on Saturday – was preparing to attack energy facilities next week and was awaiting U.S. approval, a senior Israeli defence official said.
However, in the kind of mixed messaging that has baffled supporters, foes and financial markets alike, Trump told Fox News on Sunday that Iran was negotiating, with a deal possible by Monday.
IRAN CONDEMNS ‘RECKLESS’ US, HITS GULF
Tehran is demanding an end to hostilities and its parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf condemned Trump’s threats, saying he was being misled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu’s commands,” he posted on X.
Showing it still had fight despite the U.S.-Israeli pounding, Iran expanded attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure, launching drone and missile strikes on petrochemical facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
The Revolutionary Guards also said they hit an Israeli‑linked vessel at Dubai’s Jebal Ali port.
In Kuwait, drones sparked fires and caused “severe material damage” at petrochemical plants operated by affiliates of state oil firm Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the company said.
The strikes underscored Iran’s ability to sustain cross‑border attacks and disrupt infrastructure across multiple Gulf states, exposing vulnerabilities in energy and maritime hubs.
In Israel too, media showed search-and-rescue teams combing debris in the northern city of Haifa after an Iranian missile hit a residential building. Israeli paramedics said nine people were being treated.
HOSTAGE CRISIS AVERTED
With the impact from the strait’s closure on the global economy deepening by the day, the rescue of the U.S. airman removed the risk for Trump of a hostage crisis further souring the mood of an American public already sceptical of the war.
A U.S. official said the operation, which Israel said it had assisted, involved dozens of military aircraft and encountered fierce resistance from Iranian forces.
U.S. Senator Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican and U.S. Army veteran, said the rescued pilot had climbed about 7,000 feet up a mountain to reach an evacuation point, citing a conversation with a Trump administration official.
Iran said several U.S. aircraft were destroyed during the operation, including two military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters. Footage posted on social media showed burned-out aircraft wreckage, which Reuters verified was in the area.
The New York Times reported that two U.S. transport planes used in the rescue got stuck so U.S. commanders blew them up to prevent them falling into Iranian hands. Three new planes were sent to extract the U.S. military personnel, the newspaper said.
A senior administration official in Washington said the rescue involved a CIA deception campaign that spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already located the missing airman and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration.
While Iranian forces were confused and uncertain about what was unfolding, the weapons officer was found sheltering in a mountain crevice and rescued, the official said.
PEACE EFFORTS FRUITLESS
The war, which opened with U.S. and Israeli air strikes across Iran on February 28, has spread to Lebanon, where Israel has resumed its campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Thousands have died, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes killed another 11 people on Sunday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Efforts brokered by Pakistan to bring the two sides to an agreement have so far failed.
“What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
Iran’s chokehold over the narrow Strait of Hormuz shipping lane off its southern coast has sent crude prices soaring, squeezing consumers and businesses worldwide.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by James Mackenzie and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by William Mallard, William Maclean, Ros Russell and Cynthia Osterman)
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