The missing crew member from a US F-15E jet shot down in Iran on Friday has been found and rescued after a dramatic firefight as United States President Donald Trump set a 48-hour deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The waterway through which 20 percent of the oil and gas passes has been under a de facto Iranian blockade in response to the US-Israel war on Iran. Iran’s central military command on Saturday brushed aside Trump’s threat, calling his ultimatum “a helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.
Iran says US-Israeli attacks have killed five people and wounded 170 others at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone, and that more than 30 universities have been targeted since the war was launched on February 28.
Here is what we know about the latest developments:
In Iran
The airman, who held the rank of colonel, was the second of the two crew members of an F-15E that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences. He was rescued after what was described as a “heavy firefight”. Iran has yet to comment.
Strikes killed five people overnight in Iran’s southwest during the rescue of the missing US crew member, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed that Iranian forces destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during the operation to rescue the US pilot in southern Isfahan. Earlier, it claimed to have destroyed the MQ-9 Reaper drone in Isfahan, according to the Fars news agency.
US-Israeli strikes in Ardabil province near Iran’s northwestern border with Azerbaijan killed three people, Iranian media reported, quoting an official.
Russia has evacuated 200 more staff members from the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant following a deadly attack on the site’s perimeter, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning that such raids expose the entire region to the risk of radioactive contamination.
The Tehran Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the seizure of assets and freezing of bank accounts of more than 100 high-profile individuals accused of “supporting the enemy abroad”.A section of Shahid Beheshti University is seen after being destroyed in US-Israeli air raids on April 4, 2026 [Vahid Salemi/AP Photo]
In the Gulf
Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the Ministry of Electricity and Water said on Sunday, noting the attack caused “the shutdown of two electricity generating units”.
Earlier on Sunday, Kuwait’s military said its air defences were working to intercept missiles and drones. An Iranian drone attack had also caused “significant” damage to a government building in Kuwait City on Saturday evening, a Ministry of Finance statement said, adding there were no injuries.
Later on Sunday, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation reported “significant material losses” after an Iranian drone attack on several of its facilities, according to the KUNA news agency.
Bahrain’s Gulf Petrochemical Industries said on Sunday that several of its operational units were subjected to an attack by Iranian drones.
Bahrain’s Bapco Energies said an oil tank at one of its storage facilities caught fire following an Iranian attack, and that the blaze had now been extinguished.
Earlier in the day, Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said that civil defence teams extinguished a fire at an unspecified “facility” following an Iranian attack, noting there were no reported deaths or injuries.
Authorities in Abu Dhabi said on Sunday that operations at petrochemicals company Borouge’s factory were suspended after fires broke out at the facility following the fall of debris. Earlier, the Ministry of Defence of the United Arab Emirates said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks after Iran said it was targeting the country’s “aluminium industries”.
Mohamed ElBaradei, a former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has urged Gulf countries to act after Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran. In a post in Arabic on X, he wrote, “Please, once again, do everything in your power before this madman turns the region into a ball of fire.”
In the US
The US president has confirmed the rescue of the missing officer from an F-15E jet. “WE GOT HIM!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, calling the search operation “one of the most daring… in US History”.
Planet Labs, the satellite imaging company, has said it will indefinitely withhold visuals of Iran and the region of conflict in the Middle East to comply with a request from the Trump administration.
Two family members of slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani have been arrested in the US after their residency permits were rescinded, the State Department said. However, Iranian media spoke with two daughters of Soleimani, who said the detained individuals were not related to him.
In Israel
The Israel Broadcasting Authority said on Sunday that alarms have been activated throughout the country’s north, including the port city of Haifa, after Iranian missiles were fired towards the country.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it had detected a missile launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, the fifth such attack since the start of the war on Iran.
Yemen’s Houthis, alongside Iranian forces and Hezbollah, have claimed a joint long-range attack on Israel, targeting Lod airport in the Jaffa area and key military targets.
Several loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem after the Israeli military warned it had detected missiles inbound from Iran. Reporters of the AFP news agency reported hearing at least six blasts. Earlier in the day, missile attacks on Tel Aviv and parts of central Israel wounded five Israelis, said the rescue services.
Later in the day, Israeli media reported that a factory in the Ramat Hovav area, south of Beersheba, was hit.
Israeli fire and rescue services reported a hazardous materials incident at Ben Gurion airport following the arrival of a package emitting smoke, according to Ynet News.
The Iranian state media released an image of fragments of a downed US jet in this picture said to have been taken in central Iran [Handout/IRIB via Reuters]
In Lebanon and Syria
The Israeli military claimed to have killed 90 “terrorists” in southern Lebanon since the resumption of hostilities with Hezbollah.
Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli forces launched air attacks on the town of Kfar Hatta in the southern Sidon district hours after the Israeli military issued forced orders for residents there to flee their homes. The strike killed seven people, including a four-year-old girl, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
The Lebanese army also announced the killing of one of its soldiers in an Israeli strike in Kfar Hatta.
Israel’s military renewed strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after issuing evacuation warnings, following attacks on nearby buildings that damaged a hospital.
The Masnaa border crossing has been evacuated on the Lebanese side and closed from the Syrian side after Israel warned on Saturday that it would bomb the border crossing. Israel alleged that Hezbollah was using the border crossing for “military activity”. It provided no proof for its claims.
At least five people were killed in the town of Maarakeh after Israel bombed the town.
The Israeli army attacked the Jnah neighbourhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The NNA reported that an Israeli air raid on the town of Siddiqine in the Tyre district killed three people.
Energy crisis and the Strait of Hormuz
The deputy foreign ministers of Oman and Iran met to evaluate options for ensuring the “smooth and safe passage” of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Members of the oil-producing grouping OPEC are set to meet on Sunday to decide on their output policy for May. The meeting comes as the Iran war has disrupted the global energy market. Crude prices have crossed $100 per barrel from $65 before the war.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar. She is expected to visit the UAE on Sunday as oil and gas supplies have been disrupted amid the war.
Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines says the Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker Green Sanvi, which is owned by one of its subsidiary companies, made the crossing on Saturday after being stuck in the Gulf following the outbreak of war.
An oil tanker loaded with Iraqi crude oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz close to the Iranian coast a day after Iran said Iraq was exempt from any restrictions to transit the vital sea route, data from LSEG and Kpler showed. Iraq has been plunged into severe economic distress as it exports most of its oil through the strait, which effectively remains blocked.
This photo, provided by IRGC’s official website Sepah News on April 5, 2026, reportedly shows the wreckage and remains of a crashed US aircraft in central Iran [Handout/Sepah News via AFP]
