Here's the latest
• US airman rescued: A service member whose F-15 jet was shot down over Iran evaded capture for more than a day, equipped with a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon, according to US officials. The airman hid alone in a mountain crevice and scaled rugged terrain as a massive rescue effort unfolded.
• Daring operation: US commandos swarmed the high mountains to bring the officer to safety after aircraft dropped bombs to clear the area, officials said. The mission involved hundreds of military and intelligence personnel, including a CIA deception campaign to throw off potential captors.
• At the White House: President Donald Trump, who said the airman was “seriously wounded” and receiving care, will address reporters about the mission tomorrow.
• Threats exchanged: Meanwhile, Trump issued a profanity-laced warning to Iran, vowing severe military action if Tehran fails to make a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s military issued its own threats over US-Israeli strikes on industrial plants and infrastructure.
Details emerge on last-ditch talks between Oman and Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz
Details are emerging of the “possible options” being discussed by the Gulf Arab state of Oman and Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The key shipping route, which Iran has effectively closed in response to US-Israeli strikes, lies in the two sides’ territorial waters.
An Omani source said the talks have been underway for the past two weeks and are focused on putting a “safe passage protocol” in place to allow commercial shipping access.
That would compel oil and gas tankers transiting through the narrow waterway, which has been effectively blocked since US and Israeli forces attacked Iran last month, to register with Iran and agree to fly the flag of a non-aggressive state, the source told CNN – essentially acknowledging Iranian authority over the strategic waterway.
The proposals appear to be part of a last-ditch attempt by energy-rich Oman, which has previously mediated between Washington and Tehran, to avert a broader escalation of the war.
The source described President Donald Trump’s threats to step up US attacks on Iran after a new 48-hour deadline expires on Monday morning as “alarming”.
“Escalation risks untold suffering in many parts of the world,” the source told CNN.
Trump tells Fox News US sent arms meant for Iranian protesters to Kurds
President Donald Trump told Fox News correspondent Trey Yingst during an interview this morning that the US sent weapons to Kurdish forces with the intent of arming Iranian protesters, seeming to confirm a CNN report from last month.
“President Trump told me the United States sent guns to the Iranian protesters. He tells me ‘we sent them a lot of guns. We sent them through the Kurds,’” Yingst said, recounting the phone interview. Yingst added that the president said he thinks the Kurds kept the weapons.
CNN reported last month the US was arming Kurdish groups with the aim of fomenting a popular uprising in Iran. The goal was to have the armed Kurdish forces take on Iranian forces, making it easier for Iranian civilians to take to the streets in protest.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at the time that “none of our objectives are premised on the support of the arming of any particular force. So what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Trump reiterates Monday deadline for Iran to make a deal
US President Donald Trump reiterated his Monday deadline on Iran to strike a deal and open the Strait of Hormuz or face strikes on its power infrastructure in a phone interview with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst.
The Iranians negotiating with the United States — who would be part of making that deal — have been offered limited amnesty, Yingst said Trump told him. If they don’t make a deal with the US, Trump told the reporter that they would take Iranian oil, a move Trump previously said Americans may not have the patience for.
Yingst said Trump told him the Iranians were trying to postpone the negotiating timeline for a deal, which he said prompted the strike on a key bridge outside Tehran last week. He said Trump also told him that there is “a good chance” for a deal by the Monday deadline, though there have been no indications publicly from Iranian officials that a deal was close.
Trump had previously given Iran an April 6 deadline to make a deal or face threats of attack to critical infrastructure, after extending a prior deadline by 10 days
Earlier Sunday, Trump warned Iran that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”
Israel and US commend rescue of missing airman, as Trump warns Iran over Hormuz
A missing US airman has been rescued in Iran after his fighter jet was shot down on Friday, according to US President Donald Trump. Details are now emerging as to how the rescue operation took place.
Meanwhile, in a social media post a short while ago, Trump issued a profanity-laced warning to Iran, threatening severe military action should it fail to make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil thoroughfare.
Here are some of the other latest developments regarding the conflict in the Middle East today:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the “incredible rescue” of the missing US airman. Earlier, Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said the mission underlined his country’s “close cooperation” with the US.
- Meanwhile, Iranian state media did its best to undercut the announcement, with the Tasnim News Agency claiming that “several enemy American aircraft” were “destroyed by the warriors of Islam, and the pilot rescue operation failed,” citing Iran’s military headquarters.
- Egypt’s foreign minister held a phone call with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday, as well as separate calls with Iran’s foreign minister and his regional counterparts to try to de-escalate the ongoing war, the country’s foreign ministry said.
- Representatives from Oman and Iran met yesterday to discuss “possible options” for allowing ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the Omani foreign ministry has said.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said today that it targeted fuel and petrochemical facilities in countries including Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, according to Iranian state media.
- Iran’s internet blackout now amounts to the longest nationwide internet shutdown on record, the internet watchdog NetBlocks said.
CNN’s Betsy Klein, Tal Shalev, Issy Ronald, Eugenia Yosef, Billy Stockwell, Tim Lister, Ibrahim Dahman and Sophie Tanno contributed to this reporting.
Iran's IRGC says it targeted fuel and petrochemical sites in Persian Gulf
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said today that it targeted fuel and petrochemical facilities in Persian Gulf nations, including Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, according to Iranian state media.
The IRGC framed its military action as a response to an attack on a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, southwestern Iran – which Israel has claimed responsibility for – and a strike on a major bridge just outside Tehran, the country’s state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported.
The “first phase” of Iran’s response was carried out this morning, IRIB cited the Revolutionary Guards as saying.
Iran claimed responsibility for attacks on American-linked gas and petrochemical facilities in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait, also warning that it would escalate attacks on US interests if attacks on civilian infrastructure were repeated. The IRGC also said an oil refinery in Haifa, northern Israel, was targeted. CNN cannot independently verify the IRGC’s claims.
Authorities in the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi said today that falling debris from air defense interceptions above a petrochemical plant resulted in three fires breaking out. No injures were reported due to the incident, but the site was damaged, the city’s media office said.
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting. This post has been updated with additional information.
Netanyahu hails rescue of missing US airman
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the operation which led to the rescue of the missing US airman whose F-15 jet was shot down over Iran.
“This rescue operation reinforces the sacred principle: no one is left behind,” Netanyahu said today in a video statement that directly addressed and congratulated US President Donald Trump.
Earlier today, Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said that the rescue mission underlined his country’s “close cooperation” with the US.
Israel postponed some planned strikes in Iran to not interfere with the search and rescue efforts, an Israeli official told CNN, and offered intelligence support, according to two Israeli sources.
Trump warns Iran to "open the Fuckin' Strait" or face severe consequences
President Donald Trump has also just issued a remarkable, profanity-laced warning to Iran, warning of severe military action should Tehran fail to make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil thoroughfare.
He said in a post to social media that Tuesday, “will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!!”
The missive marks the president’s latest signal regarding US plans to target Iran’s critical infrastructure.
Trump’s deadline for Iran to reopen the strait has repeatedly shifted and during an address to the nation, he suggested the strait would “open up naturally” when the conflict is over.
But the virtual shutdown of the strait, which accounts for the transit of approximately 20% of the world’s oil, has led to a major increase in gas prices.
The war is deeply unpopular with Americans, according to CNN polling, and Trump has suggested it could be over in a matter of weeks.
Inside the mission to recover a downed American airman
Hiding alone in a mountain crevice behind enemy lines, the injured American airman knew exactly what to do: survive and evade.
For more than a day, the weapons systems officer whose F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down inside Iran avoided being captured by encroaching Iranian forces. At one point, he scaled the rugged terrain to a ridgeline 7,000 feet above sea level, equipped with little more than a pistol, a communication device and a tracking beacon.
It was into the high mountains that a team of American commandos, accompanied by US aircraft dropping bombs to clear the area, swarmed to locate the officer, bringing him and themselves to safety.
Two US officials described the details of the risky operation afterward.
It involved hundreds of American military and intelligence personnel, including special operations forces who carried out the successful rescue mission, and CIA operatives who mounted a deception campaign beforehand to throw off potential Iranian captors.
And it came with multiple twists, including a pair of damaged US special operations aircraft that the US had to blow up on the ground in Iran during the operation.
The race to find and recover the officer had quickly become an all-consuming endeavor for the administration after the fighter jet was shot down on Friday. The pilot of the plane was found quickly, but the White House and Pentagon refused to confirm the rescue as a second, more prolonged mission to find his crewmate was underway.
Read the full account here.
Trump to address reporters on crew member rescue Monday at the White House
President Donald Trump will speak to reporters about the remarkable rescue of a US service member from Iran on Monday afternoon, he announced in a post to social media.
“I will be having a News Conference, with the Military, at the Oval Office, on Monday, at 1:00 P.M.,” Trump wrote.
The president does not have any public events on his schedule Sunday, but is expected to appear at the White House Easter Egg Roll early Monday morning.
He also offered some additional new details on the crew member, whom he described as “seriously wounded” and “really brave,” and said was rescued from “deep inside the mountains of Iran.”
“The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close,” the president said, underscoring the sensitivity of the mission.
CNN has reported that prior to the rescue, American intelligence operatives worked to circulate information inside Iran that both crew members had been recovered in an effort confuse Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members.
Trump called the operation “an AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!”
Israel says US pilot rescue underlines "close cooperation" with Washington
Israel has commended the United States’ rescue efforts in Iran after President Donald Trump announced that an injured airman had been recovered from the country.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the successful rescue operation was “another expression of the close cooperation between Israel and the United States, even in the most complex moments.”
Remember: Israel postponed some of its planned strikes in Iran Friday so as not to interfere with the search and rescue efforts for the two crew members who were aboard the downed fighter jet, an Israeli official confirmed to CNN.
Israel also offered intelligence support to the search and rescue efforts, according to two Israeli sources.
Thousands demonstrate for and against war in global protests
People in cities around the world have taken to the streets this weekend in marches related to the conflict in the Middle East, with some demonstrating in solidarity with Iran, others supporting the US, and some calling for an end to the war entirely.
Thousands gathered in Baghdad and across a number of other Iraqi provinces yesterday to demonstrate against the US-Israeli war with Iran after the powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on people to protest.
In Sanaa, Yemen on Friday, supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels burned an American flag. Many of the thousands of demonstrators taking to the streets brandished weapons including guns and daggers, while others waved Lebanese, Palestinian, Iranian and Hezbollah flags.
In a protest yesterday near the US embassy in Ankara, Turkey, people waved signs featuring phrases including “Murderer USA get out of the Middle East!” and “Leave NATO! Destroy NATO!” according to Reuters.
In cities across Pakistan on Friday, people protested over rising fuel prices that have emerged because of the conflict.
At a protest in London yesterday, a group of people gathered to demonstrate against the Iranian regime, waving Iranian, US and Israeli flags and holding placards bearing the face of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s ousted shah.
In Cologne, Germany, people participated in an annual Easter Peace March yesterday, where some held placards reading “STOP THE WAR IN IRAN” and “NO TO WAR!”
Israeli police also broke up an anti-war protest in downtown Tel Aviv last night, arresting at least 10 people. Demonstrators wrote “stop war” on their hands, and held up signs calling for peace and an end to the conflict.
CNN’s Aqeel Najim, Max Saltman and Dana Karni contributed to this reporting.
Oman and Iran meet to discuss allowing ships to pass through Strait of Hormuz
Representatives from Oman and Iran met to discuss “possible options” for allowing ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the Omani foreign ministry has said.
During the meeting on Saturday, experts and undersecretaries from both countries’ foreign ministries “presented a number of perspectives and proposals, which will be further studied,” the Omani ministry’s statement added.
Iranian state media offered a slightly different account of the meeting, saying the “exclusive role of Iran and Oman as the coastal states of the strait was emphasized.”
On Sunday morning, several tankers, including a Chinese vessel and one that had loaded in Iraq, appeared to have passed through the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping tracker MarineTraffic.
Iran has effectively closed the strait to most traffic in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes on the country, choking off around one-fifth of the world’s oil supply from global energy markets. Tehran controls the critical waterway’s north side while Oman controls the south.
More than 180 ships have successfully transited the strait since the outbreak of the conflict, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency. Nearly 70% of these transits were of ships owned by Iran or its allies, and countries such as China, India, Pakistan, and Turkey had negotiated passage for some of their vessels, Tasnim reported.
Before the war as many as 140 ships passed through the strait everyday, according to the United Nations trade division.
The meeting came three days after Iran said it was drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor maritime traffic through the strait, arguing that ships’ passage should take place under the “supervision and coordination” of coastal states - even in peacetime.
Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the strait, which would be in defiance of international law, is one of Tehran’s main demands to end the war. Earlier this week, the Iranian parliament’s Security Commission approved a plan to impose tolls on ships passing through the strait and enforce “Iran’s sovereign role,” a commission member said according to the state broadcaster.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Tim Lister, Abbas Al Lawati and Ibrahim Dahman contributed reporting.
Trump says downed crew member recovered in Iran — watch our report
We’ve been bringing you details on the US search and rescue operation after President Donald Trump’s announcement that an injured US airman who crashed over Iran has been recovered.
CNN’s Kit Maher reports, below.
President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that the injured US airman who had crashed over Iran has been recovered. CNN’s Kit Maher reports.
Iran's internet blackout now longest nationwide shutdown on record, NetBlocks says
Iran’s internet blackout now amounts to the longest nationwide internet shutdown on record in any country, internet watchdog NetBlocks has said.
Comparing the situation in Iran to other countries in digital darkness, it added, “Iran is the first country to have had internet connectivity and then subsequently lost it by reverting to a national network, while others such as North Korea have skipped the connected phase and been internationally isolated for longer.”
Since the US and Israel first struck Iran, its regime has almost completely blocked the country’s access to the internet.
This followed another weeks-long internet blackout in January this year during nationwide anti-regime protests.
Iranian state media shares images of apparent aircraft wreckage after US rescue operation
Video and images released by Iranian state media and geolocated by CNN appears to show the burnt out wreckage of several aircraft in southern Esfahan province after President Donald Trump said US forces rescued a crew member from a downed fighter jet.
In the footage, a large field of aircraft debris can be seen still smoldering.
Destroyed aircraft parts including what appear to be turboprops engines are also visible. It is not clear what type of aircraft they are or who owns them.
State media claimed Iranian forces shot down the aircraft seen in the images. In a post on Truth Social President Trump, made no mention of aircraft losses, but did say no US service members were injured or killed in the operation. CNN has approached the US military for comment.
Iran’s military said US forces used an abandoned airstrip to conduct the operation. A CNN analysis of satellite imagery confirmed the presence of a small airstrip around the area where the images were taken.
The images were taken around 31 miles (50 km) from the Iranian city of Esfahan.
CNN was able to geolocate the video and images by matching the mountain range behind the wreckage with satellite imagery.
Buildings in southern Lebanon destroyed in Israeli strikes
These are the latest images we’re seeing as Israeli strikes continue in areas across Lebanon, including in the capital city of Beirut.
The fresh bombardment comes as Lebanon’s health ministry said yesterday that at least 1,422 people have been killed by attacks on the country since March 2, when Israel began strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets.
Egypt’s foreign minister said to have held call with Witkoff
Egypt’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty said he held a phone call with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff Saturday evening, as well as separate calls with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and his regional counterparts to try to deescalate the ongoing war in Iran, the country’s foreign ministry said.
Abdelatty is said to have called Witkoff, as well as the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Pakistan, and Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
Iranian state media confirmed that Araghchi had spoken with Abdelatty, as well as Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s foreign minister, on Saturday.
CNN has reached out to the White House for confirmation of the Witkoff call.
The series of calls represents the latest diplomatic effort to de-escalate the conflict, “particularly as the deadline set by US President Donald Trump to receive a response to the American proposal approaches,” the ministry’s statement noted.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump reiterated his threat to unleash “hell” on Iran if a deal isn’t reached to re-open the Strait of Hormuz by Monday. He first issued the warning late last month and has twice pushed back the deadline.
During the talks, the diplomats discussed “ways to reduce military escalation” and Abdelatty stressed the “need to favor the language of dialogue and diplomacy,” a spokesperson for Egypt’s foreign ministry said.
Abdelatty also condemned strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, attacks on the Gulf states, Jordan, and Iraq and stressed “Egypt’s rejection of any infringement on the security and sovereignty of brotherly Arab states,” the spokesperson added.
How the US' search and rescue efforts unfolded this weekend
As we’ve been reporting this morning, a missing US crew member who was flying in a fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued, according to President Donald Trump.
The US and Iran had been racing to find the service member after his aircraft was downed on Friday. Here’s how the search and rescue developed over the weekend:
Friday
Three sources told CNN that a US fighter jet had been shot down over Iran, in developments also reported by Iranian state media.
US forces launched search and rescue efforts, looking for two pilots, two of the sources said. Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported that a reward was being offered for anyone capturing an “enemy pilot or pilots.”
Later in the day, three sources told CNN that one of the crew members onboard the fighter jet had been rescued by US forces. Two of the sources said the pilot was alive, in US custody and receiving medical treatment.
Saturday
A spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces headquarters framed the downing of the plane as a “black and humiliating” moment for the US and Israel, vowing to regain “full control” over Iran’s skies.
The country’s state media also maintained its coverage of the search for the missing airman, saying that the search for any missing crew had “so far been unsuccessful.”
Sunday
In a social media post early today, Trump announced that the second missing US service member had been rescued.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Haley Britzky, Kristen Holmes, Alayna Treene, Allegra Goodwin, Brad Lendon, Isaac Yee, Billy Stockwell, Danya Gainor and Jessie Yeung contributed to this reporting.
Another dramatic fighter pilot rescue: Bosnia in 1995
The rescue of a US airman in a remote part of Iran is the latest example of complex missions to find and extricate military personnel stranded deep in enemy territory.
One of the most famous was the rescue of US pilot Scott O’Grady, who hid for six days in forested hills after his F-16 was shot down by Serb forces over Bosnia in 1995.
Even as he parachuted to the ground, Grady could see local forces rushing towards him.
In a CNN interview in 2015, he recalled ripping off his chute, grabbing some of his survival gear and racing into woodland.
“And within moments, we had people walking right by me,” O’Grady said. The first two were a man and a boy, only 6 feet away.”
He moved at night, occasionally trying his radio to call for help. He fought the wet conditions, thirst and hunger. He ate ants and plants and drank the water he had in his emergency pack until that ran out on the fourth day.
On the sixth night, he was able to get a signal to another aircraft in his squadron using the call sign Basher Five-Two. Soon four Marine helicopters were headed more than 80 miles into enemy territory. About 40 other aircraft kept watch nearby in case the Serbs caught on to the rescue attempt.
The next morning, O’Grady’s rescuers located him, sprinting from the woods into a small opening, 9mm pistol in his hand in case there was enemy fire.
Shivering, hungry, dehydrated, O’Grady was bundled into a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, which was fired on as it took to the air.
What we do and don't know about the operation to rescue the US airman
In a triumphant post on Truth Social this morning, US President Donald Trump announced the second US service member whose F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was downed over Iran had been rescued.
The precise details of the astonishing operation have yet to emerge. Here’s what we know so far — and what we don’t.
What we know:
- Both US service members of a US F-15 fighter jet that was downed over Iran on Friday have now been rescued. The first was rescued shortly after the crash and is receiving medical attention.
- The second service member, who was a Colonel, “sustained injuries,” according to Trump, however he added he will be “just fine.”
- The US rescue operation involved dozens of aircraft, armed with “the most lethal weapons,” Trump said. No American troops were killed or wounded during the rescue, he added.
What we don’t know:
- The precise details of the rescue operation and where it took place. CNN’s national security analyst Alex Plitsas said it may go down as “one of the most harrowing rescue operations in US military history.”
- The airman’s exact location and identity. Trump said the US military had been monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and “diligently planning for his rescue.”
- The nature of the second crew member’s injuries. Ejecting from a military aircraft subjects aircrew to extreme forces and can result in body traumas. Former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath previously told CNN it is a “very violent thing to happen to the body.”
- How the missing US crew member evaded capture. The airman made contact with US military as early as Friday, according to CNN’s chief security analyst Jim Sciutto.
- If the US lost aircraft in the operation. In an attempt to undercut a triumphant moment for Trump, Iran’s state Tasnim News Agency claimed “several enemy American aircraft” were destroyed in the Esfahan region and denied the operation was successful.
CNN’s Danya Gainor, Jessie Yeung and Kit Maher contributed reporting.
