Update: US official says CIA launched ‘deception campaign’ to find second crew member
Details about the rescue of a second U.S. crew member in Iran, who was a weapons systems officer, are trickling out hours after Trump’s announcement.
A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that before locating the crew member, the CIA spread word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found him and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public, said the campaign managed to confuse Iranian officials while the agency conducted its search-and-rescue operations.
President Trump said that a U.S. service member who was missing since Iran shot down a fighter jet has been found in a rescue involving “dozens of aircrafts.”
The crew member had been missing since Friday, when Iran downed a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. A second crew member was rescued earlier.
Trump wrote that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that he took refuge “in the treacherous mountains of Iran.”
Trump offers details of ‘seriously wounded’ pilot's rescue
U.S. President Donald Trump said the rescue of the second F-15 pilot was a rarely attempted type of operation because of the potential dangers.
Trump said in a social media post Sunday that the pilot was “seriously wounded and really brave” and rescued from “deep inside the mountains” in Iran.
“The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close,” Trump wrote. “He is a highly respected Colonel.”
He also gave details of the rescue of the first pilot, who Trump said was rescued in “broad daylight” after seven hours over Iran.
Earlier, Trump warned Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz by Monday deadline.
Christians celebrate Easter in wartime Tehran
Armenian Christians celebrated Easter at a church in Iran’s capital on Sunday, striving to maintain a sense of normalcy five weeks into the war.
Families embraced and children exchanged painted eggs at the St. Sarkis Cathedral in central Tehran. Iran’s capital has been targeted by daily airstrikes since the United States and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28.
“Whether we like it or not, we have young children who do not understand what’s going on,” said Juanita Arakel, 40, an English language teacher. “They just need to feel normal.”
The Islamic Republic, with a population of around 90 million, is home to some 300,000 Christians, mostly Armenians, and three seats in parliament are reserved for Christians.
“My appeal first is to those who started the war to look up to the sky where love and mutual respect was given to us, whether through the birth of Jesus or his rising from the dead,” said Sepuh Sargsyan, the archbishop of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran. “Our calls and prayers are that we will be able to end this war.”
Across the Middle East, Christians have departed in large numbers in recent decades, fleeing war, persecution and upheaval, and seeking economic opportunities in the West.
Arakel said her family wants to stay in Iran, but that will depend on the war’s consequences. “Maybe we will be forced to leave Iran, but if it’s up to us, and it’s our choice, we prefer to stay here.”
Egypt’s foreign minister discusses ways to de-escalate day before Trump’s Hormuz deadline expires
Minister Badr Abdelatty has spoken by phone with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as with his Turkish and Pakistani counterparts who are also helping mediate between the U.S. and Iran.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday Abdelattay discussed a day earlier “ideas and proposals to achieve the required calm” and warned of an “unprecedented explosion” in the Middle East.
It didn’t elaborate further.
U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threats for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face devastating consequences.
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Deadline Set by President Trump
(AP) - President Trump reminded Iran of his deadline in a social media post: “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 H*** will reign down on them."
Missing U.S. 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.
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.
The U.S. military searched on 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.
“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.