U.S. airman rescued as Trump vows strikes on Iran’s infrastructure if Strait of Hormuz isn’t reopened

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday made new, expletive-laden threats to escalate strikes on Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline, after American forces rescued an aviator whose Iran-downed plane fell behind enemy lines.

A defiant Iran showed no sign of backing down, striking infrastructure targets in neighbouring Gulf Arab countries and challenging the U.S. account of the rescue.

In a social media post, Trump promised strikes on Iran’s power plants and bridges and said the country would be “living in hell” if the strait, a crucial waterway for global trade, isn’t opened to marine traffic by Tuesday. He ended with “Praise be to Allah.”

Trump has issued such deadlines before but extended them when mediators have claimed progress toward ending the war, which has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices in just over five weeks.

Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets like oil fields and desalination plants critical for drinking water, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

“Iranian civilians will be the first to suffer from the destruction of power plants and bridges,” Amnesty International head Agnes Callamard said on social media, calling Trump’s threat “revolting.”

U.S. describes a dramatic rescue

The rescue of the U.S. aviator followed an intense search after Friday’s crash of the F-15E Strike Eagle, while Iran promised a reward for anyone who turned in an “enemy pilot.”

Trump said that the service member was “seriously wounded and really brave” and rescued from “deep inside the mountains.” He said a second crew member was rescued in “broad daylight” within hours of the crash.

A senior U.S. administration official said that prior to locating the pilot, the CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had found him and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration, confusing Iranian officials. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The fighter jet was the first known American aircraft to crash in Iranian territory since the U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

Iran also shot down another U.S. military plane, demonstrating both the perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of Iran’s degraded military to hit back. 

Neither the status of the U.S. A-10 attack aircraft’s crew nor where it crashed is known.

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing what it claimed were parts of American aircraft shot down by Iranian forces, along with a photo of thick, black smoke rising into the air. The broadcaster said Iran had shot down an American transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.

However, a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told The Associated Press that the U.S. military blew up two transport planes because of a technical malfunction and brought in additional aircraft to complete the rescue. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.

Iran’s military joint command on Sunday claimed that four U.S. aircraft were destroyed during the rescue operation and warned of stepping up retaliatory attacks on regional oil and civilian infrastructure if the U.S. and Israel attacked such targets in the Islamic republic, according to state television.

“We once again repeat: if you commit aggression again and strike civilian facilities, our responses will be more forceful,” a spokesperson said in comments run by IRNA news agency.

The laws of armed conflict allow attacks on civilian infrastructure only if the military advantage outweighs the civilian harm, legal scholars say. It’s considered a high bar to clear, and causing excessive suffering to civilians can constitute a war crime.

Drones hit Gulf energy infrastructure

In Kuwait, Iranian drone attacks caused significant damage to power plants and a petrochemical plant. They also put a water desalination station out of service, according to the Ministry of Electricity. No injuries were reported, the ministry said.

In Bahrain, the national oil company said that a drone attack caused a fire at one of its storage facilities, which was extinguished. It said the damage was still being assessed and no injuries had been reported.

In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to multiple fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant, a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis of Austria. They say the fires were caused by falling debris following successful interceptions by air defence systems, but production at the plant in Ruwais, near the U.A.E.’s western border with Saudi Arabia, has halted.

The strike came a day after Israel struck a petrochemical plant in Iran that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said generated revenue that it had used to fund the war.

Trump renews threat

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments, especially oil and gas moving from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Disruptions there have injected volatility into the market and pushed oil and gas-importing countries to seek alternative sources.

Trump’s threat posted on Sunday was the second he’d issued this weekend. A Saturday social media post demanded Iran to open it up by Monday or face devastating consequences.

Iran responded by threatening all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region. “The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi with the country’s joint military command said late Saturday.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the Associated Press that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track” after Islamabad last week said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

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.

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 more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.