A US Air Force handout photo released by US Central Command public affairs, a US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, March 9, 2026; Tehran said on April 3 that it had shot down an F-15 warplane and US media reported US special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing. - / AFP
US President Donald Trump warned Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz by his Monday, April 6, deadline as US officials say a service member missing after Iran shot down a jet has been rescued.
The downing of two US warplanes and Iran's call to find the "enemy pilot" had again raised the stakes in the war, now in its sixth week.
Early Sunday, two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement said the service member had been rescused after a frantic search-and-rescue operation. A second crew member had been rescued earlier.
The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on February 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, scut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes .
