Where things stand
• Search for service member: Sources say US forces are still searching for a crew member from an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran. The US has now lost at least seven manned aircraft during the war, including a military plane struck in a separate incident Friday, according to a US official.
• Strait of Hormuz: Iran said it would grant access to the vital waterway for ships carrying “essential goods,” according to state media. World leaders have been scrambling to secure the strait as Tehran’s effective blockade disrupts global shipping. In the meantime, some commercial vessels are still making it through.
• Industrial targets in Iran: A projectile hit the perimeter of an Iranian nuclear plant, killing one person, according to state media. Iran’s industrial base, including petrochemical companies, is increasingly coming under US and Israeli fire.
What Iranian media is saying about the missing US service member
After the US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down over Iran yesterday, one of its crew members was rescued, three sources told CNN, while search and rescue efforts are ongoing for the other service member.
It is not immediately clear where in Iran the jet went down.
Iran’s state-run Tasnim news agency said the search for any missing crew had “so far been unsuccessful.” Separately, on the state-affiliated Fars News, an anchor said a reward was being offered for anyone capturing an “enemy pilot or pilots.”
Today, Iranian state media has denied the missing US service member has been captured or detained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Iran’s semi-official Mehr News also circulated a statement from the governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, who called claims that the US has rescued the missing crew member “a tactic of the enemy.”
Russian nuclear firm says nearly 200 of its workers evacuated from Bushehr power plant
Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom said today that nearly 200 of its staff members are being evacuated from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, according to Russian state media.
Iranian state media said a projectile damaged a building near the power plant this morning, killing a security staff member. It marks the fourth time the site has been targeted since the war began.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said the “main wave” of evacuations of Rosatom staff from Iran began today, “with 198 staff being evacuated,” TASS news agency reported.
The company has been evacuating staff since the Iran war broke out and the latest evacuation efforts were pre-planned, TASS added.
Rosatom has briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation, TASS cited Likhachev as saying.
Rescuing US crew member will be "very dangerous and complex," says special forces veteran
Any operation to rescue the missing US F-15 crew member will be “very dangerous and complex,” according to Bryan Stern, a US special forces veteran who founded a company specializing in rescuing people from conflict zones and after natural disasters.
“Getting aircraft in is very dangerous,” he added, citing an incident yesterday where video appeared to show a group of Iranian police officers shooting at a pair of helicopters flying at low altitude over southwestern Iran. “I’m certain there were many more of those occasions.”
US forces are still racing to find one crew member, after the other was rescued yesterday, sources told CNN. And finding that service member quickly is of the utmost importance, Stern said.
It is likely that any possible rescue operation would take place at night, Stern added, because the US “sees better in the dark than anyone out there.”
“The catch is … that the pilot has to navigate at night also, and that’s not always the easiest.”
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant is reported to have been targeted multiple times
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has referenced the targeting of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, as reported by Iranian state media, in a post on X today.
“Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine?” he said, before blaming the US and Israel for the reported strike.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump threatened to bomb the country “back to the Stone Ages” in a post on Truth Social. CNN has reached out to CENTCOM for comment on the reported strike today.
The Israel Defense Forces told CNN it had “no comment on this matter.”
Iranian state media agency Tasnim said the perimeter of Bushehr, which is Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant, was struck by a projectile. Here’s a look at previous times it’s reported to have been targeted during the conflict.
- March 17: The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said a “hostile projectile” struck the site of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, but reported no casualties and no damage to the facility.
- March 24: The AEOI said a projectile struck the grounds of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant again, describing the incident as a “renewed attack” by what it called the “American–Israeli enemy.” No part of the facility was affected, and no injuries were reported, the AEOI said.
- March 27: The AEOI again blamed Israel and the US after the nuclear power plant was struck by a projectile late at night, saying that no casualties, material damage or technical disruptions were reported.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Michael Rios, Bijan Hosseini, Dalia Abdelwahab and Dana Karni contributed to this reporting.
This post has been updated with additional developments.
Iran vows to regain "full control" over its skies after US fighter jet shot down
Iran’s military has vowed to regain “full control” over the country’s skies after a US fighter jet was shot down in what Tehran has framed as a “humiliating” moment for the United States.
A spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces headquarters celebrated the downing as “black and humiliating Friday” for the US and Israel. One of two crew members was rescued, according to sources. The status of the other service member is unknown, and the US have launched a huge search and rescue effort.
Roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers are still intact despite daily pounding by US and Israeli strikes, according to recent US intelligence assessments, three sources told CNN.
Tehran claims to have “modern air defense systems built by the young, proud scientists of this country”.
The Trump administration has previously said it has complete dominance of the skies over Iran, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling it “uncontested airspace” last month.
More than 30 Iranian universities have faced "direct attacks," minister says
Iran’s science minister said more than 30 Iranian universities have faced “direct attacks” so far during the war with the US and Israel, according to the state-aligned Iran Students’ News Agency.
Hossein Simaei Sarraf, Iran’s minister of science, research and technology, said “non-military sites and essential infrastructure for education and research have been targeted,” ISNA reported. “Today, millions of schoolchildren and university students have been deprived of education and research.”
Buildings at the Shahid Beheshti University, a prestigious university in Tehran, were damaged by a US-Israeli strike yesterday, the Iranian Red Crescent and local media said.
Iran says the attacks on its universities are an attempt to weaken the country’s scientific and cultural foundations.
Israel frames the attacks as part of a broader effort to degrade Iran’s nuclear program. The United States maintains that its forces do not deliberately target civilians.
In retaliation for these attacks, Tehran has threatened to target American and Israeli-affiliated universities across the region.
Iraqi border crossing with Iran closed following deadly airstrike
A border crossing connecting Iraq with Iran has been targeted in an airstrike, with Iran’s state-run news agency Tasnim reporting one Iraqi civilian was killed in the attack.
The head of Iraq’s Border Ports, Omar al-Waeli, announced the suspension of commercial traffic and passenger movement through the Shalamcheh border crossing as a result of the airstrike.
This decision, he said, came following an airstrike on the Iranian side, which resulted in the death of one Iraqi citizen and the injury of five others near the Iraqi border crossing.
Video circulating on social media from the scene of the border crossing shows billowing black smoke and damage caused to the building’s interior, with debris strewn around.
A vital transit point: Usually, the Shalamcheh crossing is used by Iraqi and Iranian travelers to depart and arrive by land, particularly during holiday seasons and religious pilgrimage periods.
During the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, the crossing became one of the war’s main frontlines. Iraqi forces used it as a key invasion route at the start of the conflict, and the area witnessed some of that conflict’s heaviest and deadliest fighting.
A look at the commercial vessels getting through the Strait of Hormuz
President Donald Trump suggested yesterday that the US could “easily” reopen the Strait of Hormuz, marking a shift in stance after he insisted other countries were responsible for clearing the waterway.
There has been a flurry of diplomacy focused on securing safe passage for ships through the waterway, including a forthcoming UN Security Council vote, postponed from today.
Meanwhile, some vessels are still making it through despite the effective blockade. Here’s a round-up of the latest we know.
- Two Turkish-owned ships have transited the strait, Turkey’s transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said today. There are no Turkish-flagged vessels stranded in the Persian Gulf, but 13 Turkish-owned and crewed ships remain, he told CNN Turk. Turkey said it is working to arrange the departure for nine of those (the others are regional vessels intending to stay in the Gulf).
- Many of the vessels passing through have been Chinese-linked vessels. It comes after Iran said that non-hostile vessels may transit if they coordinate with Iranian authorities. Vessels with ties to Iran and India have also transited safely.
- A French-owned container ship, owned by shipping company CMA CGM, passed through the strait late on Thursday using the Iran-approved corridor, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence and MarineTraffic. It marks the first French-owned vessel to use the transit detour that goes around Iran’s Larak Island.
- Meanwhile, three Omani vessels exited on Friday via the corridor closer to Oman, avoiding the Iran-approved corridor, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence and the Financial Times.
- The first Japanese-owned vessel also transited the strait on Friday, carrying liquefied natural gas, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, citing the shipping company.
- The maritime analysis company Windward also noted that Greek ownership has featured prominently in vessels making it through the strait, accounting for four vessels that transited earlier this week.
- Pakistan is looking into the possibility of helping other nations’ vessels safely transit, potentially by registering them under so-called ‘flags of convenience,’ two sources familiar with the situation told CNN on Tuesday. Iran is allowing the country to transit 20 vessels “under the Pakistani flag.” However, one source said that Pakistan does not currently have that many ships trapped, so it may secure passage for other vessels – possibly with connections to China.
CNN’s Tim Lister, Sophia Saifi, Maisie Linford, Kevin Liptak and Jared Formanek contributed to this report.
Iran allows vessels carrying “essential goods” through Strait of Hormuz, state media says
Iran said it would grant permission for vessels carrying “essential goods” to pass through the choked Strait of Hormuz, according to state-run Tasnim news agency.
It is not clear which items Iran defines as “essential” or if Tehran will maintain its blockade on vessels from what it deems as hostile nations.
In a document addressed to the head of Iran’s ports and maritime organization, Houman Fathi, deputy for commercial development, said that “permission is hereby granted for the transit of vessels carrying essential goods – especially basic commodities and livestock inputs – through the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Iranian official said the order applies to “vessels heading toward Iranian ports or currently operating in the region,” Tasnim reported.
A list of ships prepared to transit the critical waterway “will be sent for coordination,” Ghazali said.
Steel, concrete and chemicals: Iran's industrial base under growing attack
As the Middle East conflict enters its sixth week, a growing range of Iranian industries are being targeted by US-Israeli strikes, including steel plants, cement factories and petrochemical complexes.
Saturday saw multiple attacks on petrochemical plants in southern Iran, some of them associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Mahshahr and Bandar Imam petrochemical complexes are at the heart of Iran’s industrial economy, and a major source of export revenue.
They process gas and oil into chemicals used in plastics, fertilizers, and other essential industries.
There was also an attack on a cement factory in Hormozgan province, according to a local official, who said that the plant continued to operate, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Over the past few days, several harbors in southern Iran have also been targeted, according to state media.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Friday that Israeli strikes had destroyed 70% of Iran’s steel production capacity, a figure CNN is unable to verify.
A second attack on the huge Mobarakeh Steel Complex in Esfahan late Wednesday inflicted “fundamental destruction” and brought production lines “to a complete halt,” the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
“Under these circumstances, continuing operations is not possible,” Fars said.
Dutch police investigate blast at pro-Israel center
Dutch police are investigating an overnight explosion that a pro-Israel organization said targeted its center in the Netherlands.
Police said the blast, which took place in Nijkerk near Amsterdam, caused only limited damage. No one was injured and no arrests have been made, police posted on X. The group Christians for Israel said the explosion targeted its Israel Center in Nijkerk.
It is unclear if the overnight attack is linked to the Iran war, but Israel’s foreign ministry said last month that an “antisemitism epidemic is raging” in the Netherlands after an explosion struck at a Jewish school in Amsterdam amid the escalating regional violence in the Middle East.
Security in the capital city had been heightened following similar incidents in the Dutch city of Rotterdam and Liège in neighboring Belgium, the City of Amsterdam said at the time.
US service member missing, as Iran suffers heavy bombardment
As we’ve been reporting, two US aircraft were downed in the Middle East yesterday in two separate incidents. A senior Iranian military commander said forces are “hunting” American aircraft, using new methods and equipment.
Both the US and Iran are looking for a service member who was onboard one of the planes. Here are the latest developments:
- US forces have launched search and rescue efforts for a downed F-15 fighter jet, two sources said. One of two crew members was rescued and is receiving medical attention in US custody, according to sources. The status of the other service member is unknown.
- An A-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed the Warthog, was also struck by Iran yesterday, forcing the pilot to eject, according to a US official. The pilot was able to fly the plane out of Iranian territory before ejecting, and was subsequently rescued, the official said.
- US President Donald Trump told NBC News that the downing of the F-15 fighter jet would not affect any negotiations with Iran, while declining to discuss the ongoing search and rescue mission for it.
- Yesterday, Israel postponed some of its planned strikes in Iran so they wouldn’t interfere with search and rescue efforts for the crew members aboard the fighter jet that was shot down, an Israeli official told CNN.
- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, mocked the United States’ search for the F-15’s missing crew member.
Meanwhile, the conflict across the region persists. Here are the very latest developments:
- A projectile hit the perimeter of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant this morning, killing one person, according to Iran’s state news agency Tasnim.
- Multiple petrochemical company facilities in southwestern Iran’s Khuzestan Province sustained damage in aerial attacks this morning, according to Iranian state media.
- The UN Security Council has postponed a vote on a resolution to secure transit passage in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing diplomats.
- Indonesia has expressed “grave concern” after three Indonesian peacekeepers were injured in southern Lebanon yesterday while serving with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
CNN’s Xiaoqian Lin, Kevin Liptak, Michael Rios, Todd Symons, Kit Maher, Tal Shalev, Lauren Kent, Tim Lister, Sophie Tanno and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this reporting.
Five EU finance ministers call for tax on energy windfall profits, Reuters reports
Five EU finance ministers have called for a tax on energy companies’ windfall profits in response to the rising energy costs due to the Iran war, according to Reuters.
The measure would send a clear message to those who “profit from the consequences of the war,” according to a letter from the ministers of Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain and Portugal to the European Commission, as seen by Reuters.
The proposed tax would send a message that “we stand united and are able to take action,” they wrote.
The letter, dated Friday, did not detail what level of windfall tax the ministers were proposing, or which companies it should affect.
It comes as oil and gas prices have spiked in the bloc since the US and Israel’s war with Iran.
Dan Jørgensen, in charge of energy and housing at the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, warned in an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday that prices could be high for a long time.
Area near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant attacked, Iranian state media says
A projectile hit the perimeter of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant this morning, killing one person, according to Iranian state media agency Tasnim.
The projectile damaged a building near the power plant, killing a security staff member, Tasnim said.
While the UN’s nuclear watchdog said there was no reported rise in radiation levels, it cautioned against striking nuclear power plants and called for “maximum military restraint to avoid risk of a nuclear accident.”
It marks the fourth time the site has been targeted since the war began. Projectiles have struck the area around the Bushehr nuclear power plant multiple times this month, Iranian authorities previously said.
It is Iran’s only functioning nuclear power plant.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi issued a combative statement responding to the incident, warning that any radioactive fallout could “end life in (Gulf) capitals, not Tehran.” He also reminded Western countries of their “outrage” following similar Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Iran’s "new" regime looks much the same, only more hardline
US President Donald Trump said this week that Iran’s new leadership is “less radical and much more reasonable.” Trump and the Pentagon have repeatedly claimed that regime change has happened.
But what most political scientists and analysts would consider regime change involves an outside power transforming how a country is governed, not merely replacing the people at the top of that system.
If anything, experts say the war has given more power to the hardline military factions inside the complex system of Iranian governance, as well as bolstered anti-American sentiments.
Analysts also say this hardened regime is expected to double down on the repression of its own citizens. The Revolutionary Guards still maintain control over both the “guns and money” needed to suppress internal dissent, according to Yacoubian.
Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group, told CNN: “This is a wounded regime, and if it survives, it is not going to give an inch to its population, at least not anytime soon.”
Iranian petrochemical companies attacked, Iranian state media says
Multiple petrochemical companies in southwestern Iran’s Khuzestan Province sustained damage to their facilities in aerial attacks this morning, according to Iranian state media.
Fighter jets targeted the Bu Ali petrochemical complex as well as the Bandar Imam petrochemical complex, where parts of the facility were damaged, Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency reported. The Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone was also hit in a series of strikes, according to Tasnim.
The companies are considered subsidiaries of the large Iranian petrochemical holding group, Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), which the US says is the engineering conglomerate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The subsidiaries were were sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2019.
A law enforcement official in Khuzestan Province, Valiollah Hayati, said there is a “strong potential of casualties” following the attacks by the US and Israel, according to Tasnim.
The reported attacks come after one of the largest steel plants in Iran was struck in the city of Esfahan late Wednesday, according to state media, further depleting key infrastructure.
Some context: Petrochemicals are a core industry in Iran, supporting many other sectors of the manufacturing economy, including plastics, fertilizers and other everyday products.
UN Security Council postpones vote on Strait of Hormuz
The UN Security Council is now expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to secure transit passage in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported on Friday, citing diplomats.
The vote was initially set to take place yesterday, then rescheduled for today. Several diplomats now say the vote has been postponed until next week with no new date set, according to Reuters.
Bahrain’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reason for the delay, said the news agency.
The draft resolution, if adopted, would authorize countries to use “all defensive means necessary” to secure transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz. It would authorize naval action in the strait, which has been effectively closed since the start of the war.
The proposed move has reportedly faced resistance from China, Russia and others.
It would be “legitimizing the unlawful and indiscriminate use of force, which would inevitably lead to further escalation of the situation and lead to serious consequences,” Reuters reported China’s UN envoy Fu Cong as saying on Thursday.
US combat aircraft struck by Iran
CNN’s Jim Sciutto reports as a US military plane — an A-10 Thunderbolt II — was struck by Iran yesterday, forcing the pilot to eject, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
We’ve reached out to the US Central Command for comment.
A second US military plane — an A-10 Thunderbolt II — was struck by Iran on Friday, forcing the pilot to eject, according to a US official familiar with the matter. CNN has reached out to the US Central Command for comment. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports on the details.
Indonesia expresses "grave concern" after peacekeepers injured in Lebanon
Indonesia has expressed “grave concern” after three peacekeepers of Indonesian nationality were injured in southern Lebanon on Friday while serving with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
A spokesperson for the UNIFIL mission said yesterday the three peacekeepers were injured, two of them seriously, in an explosion.
“This marks the third serious incident involving Indonesian peacekeepers in less than a week,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.
The ministry called on the UN Security Council to address the issue urgently, and on UNIFIL-contributing countries to convene a meeting to review and strengthen force protection measures.
Separately, last Monday, UNIFIL said two of its peacekeepers were killed in the same region when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle.
Since March 1, fighting between the Israeli military and Iranian-backed Hezbollah has sharply escalated in southern Lebanon, amid an expanded Israeli ground operation and worsening humanitarian conditions.
Iranian commander says "innovations" in air defenses helped bring down US jets
A senior Iranian military commander has said the country’s forces are “hunting” American aircraft using new methods and equipment. His comments came as two US military jets were downed on the same day.
Yesterday, a US Air Force F-15 was shot down over Iran, with a crew member still missing, while an A-10 Thunderbolt II was struck and crashed just after leaving Iranian territory.
Brigadier General Alireza Elhami, commander of Iran’s Joint Air Defense Base, said the loss of the US aircraft was “the result of tactics, the use of modern equipment, and innovations in (Iran’s) air defense systems,” the state-affiliated IRNA news agency reported. Elhami did not elaborate on what those innovations were.
“This has caused confusion and bewilderment for the enemy,” he said.
The F-15 is the first manned US aircraft known to have been shot down over Iran during the conflict.
