Iran and US race to find missing American pilot downed in fighter jet

US President Donald Trump gave an expletive-laden threat to Iranian leaders on Sunday that they will be “living in hell” come Tuesday, if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened.

Trump later told US media that his administration is in “deep negotiations” with Iran and there’s a “good chance” a deal will be reached on Monday – but reiterated his threat, telling Fox News he is considering “blowing everything up and taking over the oil” if a deal to end the war is not reached quickly.

Iranians have told the BBC of their fear following the US president’s comments – one in the capital Tehran said: “What can we do as ordinary people? We can’t do anything. We can’t stop him.”

This all came shortly after the US announced it had successfully
rescued the second crew member of an F-15E fighter jet that had been shot down over
Iran – more on that rescue mission here.

We’re ending our live coverage – you can read more here:

• Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran over Hormuz Strait blockage

The BBC’s senior international correspondent Orla Guerin has travelled to the edge of the Strait of Hormuz in Oman, which Iran has put a stranglehold on since the war broke out.

The critical artery is normally used for 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

By leaving ships stranded in the waterway, Iran is reducing the global supply of oil, driving up prices and creating fear among consumers as well as amplifying pressure in the international community.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iran’s Fars news agency, which is affiliated to the country’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), says in the last 24 hours, 15 ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz “with permission from Iran”.

It says traffic is still 90% lower than before the start of the war.

Some Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, have repeatedly said that the vital shipping lane is not closed, but it is closed only to “enemy countries”.

For example, yesterday Iran announced Iraq is exempt from any restrictions it is imposing, according to the spokesman Iran’s for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarter.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials and lawmakers have also raised the possibility of imposing transit fees or tolls on vessels using the strait.

Earlier an aide at Iran’s President’s Office, says the Strait of Hormuz “will be reopened” when “a portion of transit tolls is used to compensate for all the damage caused” by the war.

Complicated picture for conflict going forward after rescuepublished at 21:40 BST 5 April

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

Trump was swift to declare victory in the aftermath of the
recovery of the second crew member of an F-15 that was downed over Iran, stating the operation proves “proves, once again, that we have achieved overwhelming air dominance and superiority”.

Observers, however, paint a more complicated picture of what
this means for the conflict going forward.

While the mission was successful, the events of the last few
days – in which two aircraft were downed and at least one helicopter hit by
gunfire – highlight that threats to US aircraft and personnel remain.

Several Washington sources tell me the loss of the aircraft
and the complexity of the operation to recover the pilots could potentially
dissuade Trump from any ground operation.

On the other hand, the fact that US troops were able to
enter a contested environment, hold it for hours, before escaping, may embolden
him that an airborne or amphibious operation against targets in Iran stands a good chance of
success.

• Read more: Trump declares victory in Iran war after rescue, but threats to US operation still loom

First confirmed downing of US jet in war will raise concerns it might not be the lastpublished at 21:07 BST 5 April

Simi Jolaoso
North America correspondent

More now on the rescue of the missing US airman, after a fighter jet was shot down over Iran late last week.

President Trump has hailed the rescue as a “miraculous” success.

He cast it as further proof the US has achieved “overwhelming air dominance and superiority” over Iranian skies.

He has previously claimed Iran couldn’t “do a thing” about American aircraft operating over its territory – a claim echoed by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

So while it is a victory for the US, the question still remains, how exactly was Iran able to shoot down the F-15 in the first place?

Iran claimed the aircraft was brought down by its air defence systems and said it had “foiled” a subsequent US rescue mission.

Reports suggest that aircraft involved in the rescue were damaged by small arms fire, while images appearing to show some of the wreckage have been circulated online – touting Iran’s efforts as a success.

Either way, Friday’s downing suggests Iran is still able to contest its skies, even if at a limited capacity.

It is the first confirmed case of a US military aircraft being shot down over Iran in this war, and it’ll raise concerns that it may not be the last.

The UK’s Royal Air Force downed “multiple Iranian drones” overnight, the Ministry of Defence says in an update.

It says UK Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets continue their defensive missions over the Eastern Mediterranean, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE, supported the RAF’s Voyager air-to-air refuelling aircraft and Royal Navy Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.

It adds that “force protection measures in the region continue to be at the highest levels” and that it is “continuing to work closely” with its allies.

Oman says it has met with Iran to discuss options for “ensuring the smooth flow of transit” through the Strait of Hormuz.

It says experts from both both sides “presented a number of visions and proposals” at the meeting, and it will now study these proposals.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates is ready to “join any American-led effort” to “secure navigation” in the strait, according to presidential adviser Anwar Gargash.

He adds that he believes Iran’s targeting of its neighbours throughout the war has only solidified the US and Israel’s position and influence in the Middle East.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

I’ve been speaking to residents in Iran’s capital Tehran after US President Donald Trump’s threat to hit Iranian infrastructure if the country doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz.

“It feels like we’re sinking deeper into a swamp,” one man in his 20s tells me. “What can we do as ordinary people? We can’t do anything. We can’t stop him.”

A woman in her 20s says her mother is “filling every bottle she can find in the house with water” in case the water supply is disrupted.

“I’ve no idea what we’re going to do now. I think more and more people in Iran have realised that Trump doesn’t care about them at all. I hate him from the bottom of my heart, and those who support him too,” she says.

A man in his 20s tells me: “I’m so tired of everything… I’ve been stockpiling with my family, but I feel like if he wants to attack infrastructure, these efforts are pointless.”

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says Trump’s “reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living HELL for every single family”.

He adds: “Make no mistake: You won’t gain anything through war crimes.”

Ghalibaf accuses Trump of following orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and says “the only real solution is respecting the rights of the Iranian people and ending this dangerous game.”

The secretary general of human rights group Amnesty International has responded to Trump’s expletive-laden post, saying: “What a revolting message.”

In a post on X, Agnes Callamard says: “Iranian civilians will be the first to suffer from the destruction of power plants and bridges”.

“No more electricity, heating, or water; unable to flee the attacks. Potential cascading war crimes.”

It comes days after a group of more than 100 experts on international law signed an open letter expressing “profound concern” about what they see as serious violations of international law by the US, Israel and Iran in the war – more on that here.

Responding to that report, the White House said Trump was making the entire region safer and dismissed what it described as “so-called experts”.

The US Central Command has confirmed the rescue of two Americans following the downing of a fighter jet on Thursday.

In a statement it says: “On April 4, U.S. forces successfully completed the rescues of two American service members from Iran after their F-15E fighter jet was shot down April 2 during a combat mission.

“The service members were safely recovered during separate search and rescue missions.

“U.S. strikes into Iran continue as U.S. Central Command forces dismantle the Iranian regime’s ability to project power beyond its borders.”

As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has issued an expletive-laden threat that Iran’s infrastructure will be hit on Tuesday if the Strait of Hormuz is not opened.

He had previously issued a deadline of Monday 6 April for Iran to make a deal.

In a new post on his Truth Social platform, Trump writes: “Tuesday, 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time!”

That’s 03:30 Tehran time on Wednesday (01:00 BST).

It’s not clear what Trump’s social media post is referring to. The BBC has asked the White House to clarify.

President Donald Trump has been speaking to a number of different US media outlets after threatening Iran’s infrastructure if the country doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s what we’ve heard:

• He told Axios that the US is “in deep negotiations” with Iran to make a deal. He says “there is a good chance, but if they don’t make a deal, I am blowing up everything over there”
• He similarly told Fox News there is a “good chance” a deal will be reached tomorrow, but he is considering “blowing everything up and taking over the oil” if a deal to end the war is not reached quickly – as we reported earlier
• Trump told the Wall Street Journal that if Iran want to keep the strait closed “they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country”

Four people have been injured in Haifa, northern Israel, after a rocket strike, the country’s emergency service Magen David Adom says.

It says this includes “an approximately 82-year-old man in serious condition who was injured by a heavy object, and 3 casualties in mild condition with shrapnel and blast injuries”.

The emergency service has shared these pictures of the scene.

Gen Frank McKenzie, a retired former commander of US Central Command, tells CBS Face the Nation that the rescue of the airman in Iran is something the US military trains “endlessly” for.

“Every time we send air crew over enemy territory, we have detailed elaborate plans to go get them,” he says.

McKenzie says this rescue operation left the airman in a “position where they can hide until you can get to them, all that seemed to work out very well”.

The retired general says “we did in fact lose a couple of aircraft in that mission”, but it’s a loss you take “any day” in such a situation.

He says it is a “hard lesson” for Iran that it was “not able to find the missing air crewman” before the US rescuers.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

I’ve spoken to former US Air Force pilot Dr Ravi Chaudhary, who served as a personnel recovery director during the Iraq war.

He says “what made this extraction so difficult is that rescuers had to establish contact with the aircrew without giving away their position to hostile forces.”

It would have been a “harrowing night” for the rescue forces and US airmen, says Chaudhary – who served in the US air force for 21 years.

“There are multiple ways you can extract the air crew,” he says. “You can lower a harness down while still airborne and hoist
the airman up to a helicopter. Or you can actually land and approach the
airman.”

“At the same time you are coordinating strike assets to
maintain safe cover for the rescue forces.”

It has been more than 11 hours since Donald Trump said a missing US airman – whose fighter jet was downed over Iran – had been rescued.

What we know

• Both crew members from the downed F-15 fighter jet have now been rescued – the pilot and the weapon systems officer
• Trump says the weapon systems officer – an unnamed colonel – was “seriously wounded”. The BBC understands injuries may have happened when he ejected from the plane

• They were rescued from “deep inside the mountains of Iran”, Trump says – we still don’t know the precise location
• No Americans were killed in the rescue, according to the president

What we don’t know

• The identity of the weapon systems officer, or the pilot who was rescued on Friday
• What US assets were damaged in the operation. Verified footage appears to show smouldering aircraft wreckage in a mountainous area of central Iran, and there are separate reports from Iran and US media about destroyed aircraft. We have not been able to confirm either report
• Exactly how many troops were involved – the BBC’s US partner CBS News reports that there was no firefight during the rescue, and fewer than 100 troops were involved

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

Three USAF B-1b Lancer heavy bombers took off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire at 15:45 BST on Sunday – almost certainly heading for Iran.

Each aircraft is capable of carrying a number of ‘bunker buster’ weapons.

B-52 and B-1b aircraft have been flying out of here for weeks to attack targets – using a mixture of JDAMs and long-distance cruise missiles.

The aircraft that took off this afternoon are likely on a mission that will last 15 hours or more – with several refuels on the way and back.

US President Donald Trump says he is considering “blowing everything up and taking over the oil” in Iran if a deal to end the war is not reached quickly, Fox News reports.

But, in the interview with Fox’s chief foreign correspondent, Trump says there is a “good chance” a deal will be reached tomorrow.

“They are negotiating now”, he says.