A U.S. search-and-rescue mission stretched into Saturday after Iran downed a U.S. military plane on Friday. One American service member was rescued after the crash, and at least one was reported missing. Iran promised a reward for turning in the pilot. Another plane crashed in a separate incident on Friday, and Iran claimed it was also shot down. The status of the crew was not immediately known. The Pentagon didn’t provide public details about the downed planes on Friday. President Donald Trump’s national security team was at the White House, where the commander-in-chief was receiving updates. Friday marked the first time that the U.S. lost an aircraft in Iranian territory since the war started, underscoring that Iran maintains some military capabilities five weeks into the conflict. In an address to the American public on Wednesday, Trump said those capabilities, including Iran’s air defenses, were largely destroyed. He said that Operation Epic Fury was nearing completion, but projected continued strikes on Iran for another two to three weeks. “They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force,” Trump said. Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, accused Trump of overstating the success of his military operation. “We were told just a couple of nights ago in the president’s 20-minute address to the country that we owned the skies of Iran, and it looks like we don’t if this is happening,” Swalwell told CNN in an interview. Trump made no public appearances on Friday. In a brief interview with NBC News, he declined to discuss the search-and-rescue effort in detail, but he said it wouldn’t impact negotiations with Iran. Trump didn’t directly address the matter on social media, though he did post about the Strait of Hormuz, the major oil shipping route that Iran has largely blocked off. “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” Trump wrote. Trump added in a separate post, “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?”The president has been urging American allies to police the Strait. He has criticized them for not stepping up, as oil and gas prices surge. At a summit in Seoul on Friday, France and South Korea said they would work together to help reopen the Strait. The leaders didn’t immediately provide specifics on the plan. Trump’s Monday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait is fast approaching. He has threatened to strike Iran’s power plants if Tehran refuses, but he has also delayed the deadline in the past to leave room for diplomacy. Late on Friday, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, suggested Iran could disrupt traffic through another strategic waterway, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
A U.S. search-and-rescue mission stretched into Saturday after Iran downed a U.S. military plane on Friday. One American service member was rescued after the crash, and at least one was reported missing. Iran promised a reward for turning in the pilot.
Another plane crashed in a separate incident on Friday, and Iran claimed it was also shot down. The status of the crew was not immediately known.
The Pentagon didn’t provide public details about the downed planes on Friday. President Donald Trump’s national security team was at the White House, where the commander-in-chief was receiving updates.
Friday marked the first time that the U.S. lost an aircraft in Iranian territory since the war started, underscoring that Iran maintains some military capabilities five weeks into the conflict.
In an address to the American public on Wednesday, Trump said those capabilities, including Iran’s air defenses, were largely destroyed. He said that Operation Epic Fury was nearing completion, but projected continued strikes on Iran for another two to three weeks.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force,” Trump said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, accused Trump of overstating the success of his military operation.
“We were told just a couple of nights ago in the president’s 20-minute address to the country that we owned the skies of Iran, and it looks like we don’t if this is happening,” Swalwell told CNN in an interview.
Trump made no public appearances on Friday. In a brief interview with NBC News, he declined to discuss the search-and-rescue effort in detail, but he said it wouldn’t impact negotiations with Iran.
Trump didn’t directly address the matter on social media, though he did post about the Strait of Hormuz, the major oil shipping route that Iran has largely blocked off.
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” Trump wrote.
Trump added in a separate post, “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?”
The president has been urging American allies to police the Strait. He has criticized them for not stepping up, as oil and gas prices surge.
At a summit in Seoul on Friday, France and South Korea said they would work together to help reopen the Strait. The leaders didn’t immediately provide specifics on the plan.
Trump’s Monday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait is fast approaching. He has threatened to strike Iran’s power plants if Tehran refuses, but he has also delayed the deadline in the past to leave room for diplomacy.
Late on Friday, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, suggested Iran could disrupt traffic through another strategic waterway, which links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.
