U.S. presses search for missing pilot after Iran shoots down two planes

The U.S. military searched for a second day for a pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday again threatened Tehran over his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “Time is running out.” The American warplane, identified by Iran as a F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday. Iran has promised a reward for whoever turns in the “enemy pilot.” Iran’s joint military command on Saturday said that it also struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters on Friday, but the Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that. The war, now in its sixth week, began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. It shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds with attacks across the region. Oman grapples with its national identity as a neutral mediator after Iran’s attacks “We will continue to crush them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday. Israel’s military confirmed that it struck a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr that Netanyahu said helps to fund the war. Five people were killed, Iranian state media reported, citing a provincial security official. Trump said in a national address on Wednesday that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” But on Saturday, an apparent Iranian drone damaged the headquarters of U.S. technology company Oracle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets and infrastructure, bringing warnings of possible war crimes. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated. It was the fourth time the facility was targeted. Hopes for talks Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track.” Last week, Pakistan said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that they “have never refused to go to Islamabad.” Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials. They said that they were working on bridging the gap between the two sides’ demands to stop the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz. Opinion: The U.S. will emerge from the war with Iran as a lesser power The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy. But Trump reminded Iran of his deadline in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. “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,” he said. Iran hunts for ‘enemy pilot’ The search for the U.S. pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released information, but in an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East. A U.S. crew member was rescued. The Pentagon notified the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn’t known. Trump told NBC News that what happened wouldn’t affect negotiations with Iran. A second U.S. Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation. It wasn’t clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down, or whether Iran was involved. Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iran’s defense forces. Oracle’s offices hit in Dubai The Dubai headquarters of Oracle was hit after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm. Footage verified by the AP outside the UAE showed a large hole in the building’s southwestern corner. The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade,” saying there were no injuries. Oracle Corp., based in Austin, Tex., didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The Guard has accused some large U.S. tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes. Iran’s veiled threat to disrupt second waterway Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb. The strait, 32 kilometres wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it. “Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote. 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, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and there have been more than one million displaced people. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.