Iran's revolutionary guards say US aircraft in search of pilot was downed: Tasnim

Trump confirms the rescue of the missing US pilot

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran has 48 hours to strike a deal on opening up the Strait of Hormuz or face "Hell."

"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them," Trump said.

On March 21, Trump threatened to "hit and obliterate" Iranian power plants if the country fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Two days later, however, he postponed strikes on power plants for five days after holding "productive conversations" with Tehran. He later again pushed the deadline back.

TEHRAN -- Iran has authorized the passage of ships carrying essential and humanitarian goods through the Strait of Hormuz to it ports, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.

The report cited a letter, dated March 1, sent to Iran's Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) by Hooman Fathi, Iran's Deputy Agriculture Minister, as saying that the Iranian government and armed forces have authorized passage by those vessels.

The letter asked the PMO to allow the passage of ships destined for Iranian ports or currently in the Gulf of Oman that carry humanitarian commodities, especially essential goods and livestock inputs, based on the issued protocols.

It added that a list of such ships will be sent for further coordination.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior officials and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East, and exercising tight control over the Strait of Hormuz.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said Saturday that it had hit an Israel-linked vessel with a drone, setting it on fire.

The IRGC Navy said in a post on social media platform X that it hit the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, in a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC confirmed the attack, saying its forces had targeted an Israeli-owned commercial ship in a port in Bahrain.

It said the ship, which was sailing under a third country's flag and identified as "MCS Ishika," was targeted by its Navy's "powerful projectiles" in Khalifa Bin Salman Port during the 95th wave of the attacks against the US and Israeli targets in the West Asia region.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side.

The statement added that the Israeli targets were in cities including Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, which were hit "heavily and continuously" by the multiple-warhead Qadr missiles.

The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf countries hosting US military assets.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran seeks to secure the terms of a "conclusive and lasting" end to the US and Israeli war imposed on the country.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X while highlighting one of Iran's main preconditions for an end to the ongoing conflict, and reacting to US media reports that the country has refrained from attending ceasefire talks with the United States in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

"Iran's position is being misrepresented by US media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad," Araghchi said.

"What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting end to the illegal war that is imposed on us," he stressed.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran has officially told mediators that it is not willing to meet US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and considers US demands unacceptable.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency early Friday quoted an informed source as saying that Iran had rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire sent through a "friendly" country the preceding day.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

TEHRAN -- At least five people were injured in US-Israeli attacks on several petrochemical companies in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province on Saturday morning, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The firms, identified as Fajr 1 and 2, Regal, Amirkabir, Bandar Imam and Buali Sina, were hit at 10:47 am local time (0717 GMT), the report said.

It quoted Valiollah Hayati, Khuzestan's deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs, as saying that the possibility of further casualties is very high.

He added the Shalamcheh border trade terminal in Khorramshahr city was also attacked and sustained serious damage.

The Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone, where the companies are located, has been evacuated, the report said.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON -- US officials confirmed Friday that two US rescue helicopters involved in the search and rescue efforts for an F-15 fighter jet downed earlier on Friday were struck by Iranian fire, according to US media reports.

Crew members aboard the helicopters were unharmed, said an NBC News report, citing a US official.

Meanwhile, a second Air Force combat plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, and the lone pilot was safely rescued, reported The New York Times, citing two US officials.

The officials said the A-10 Warthog attack plane went down near the Strait of Hormuz about the same time that the Air Force F-15E was shot down over Iran. One crew member was rescued and search-and-rescue operators are looking for the second airman.

Earlier on Friday, US officials confirmed that a US F-15E fighter was downed in southern Iran. While one crew member was rescued by US forces, the search and rescue mission is ongoing for the two-member crew aircraft.

It is the first known US warplane downed inside Iran since the United States and Israel launched massive attacks on Iran on Feb 28.

TEHRAN -- The Iranian army confirmed that its air defense systems shot down a US A-10 "Warthog" attack plane on Friday over Iran's southern waters near the Strait of Hormuz, with the aircraft crashing into the Persian Gulf.

The announcement, published on the army's website, came shortly after Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said that it had downed a US F-35 fighter jet in central Iranian airspace earlier in the day.

Later Friday, Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported that a US Black Hawk helicopter was also hit by a projectile in Iranian airspace while searching for the pilot of the downed US fighter jet.

The United States has not officially commented on Iran's claim yet.

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

TEHRAN -- Iran has rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday.

The proposal was delivered to Iran through a "friendly" country on Thursday, Fars quoted an informed source as saying.

The source added that Washington has stepped up its diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire, particularly after an Iranian strike targeted a US "military forces depot" on Kuwait's Bubiyan Island.

According to Fars, assessments suggest that the proposal was put forward following an intensification of the crisis in the region and "serious problems" for US forces resulting from their country's "miscalculation" of Iran's military capabilities.

The report added that Iran's response to the offer was not given in writing, but through the continuation of attacks in the battlefield.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Channel 12 News and other Israeli media outlets on Friday reported that the pilot of the US fighter jet that was shot down in Iranian airspace was safely rescued.

The outlets added that the fate of the navigator who was on the jet was unknown.

The channel also reported that the Israeli military has canceled strikes in the area in Iran, where searches are being conducted for the navigator, citing a senior Israeli official.

Israel's state-owned Kan TV News reported that Israel is assisting the United States with intelligence in locating the jet's crew.

Earlier in the day, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said that the aircraft was hit by advanced air defence systems operated by its aerospace division.

The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and US military assets in neighboring Gulf countries.

TEHRAN -- Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported Friday that a US Black Hawk helicopter was struck by a projectile in Iranian airspace while involved in a search for the pilot of an American fighter jet that Iranian forces said they shot down earlier in the day.

TEHRAN -- Yadollah Rahmani, governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, called on Friday for residents in tribal and rural areas to assist authorities in locating "enemy pilots."

"The people of the province, particularly those in tribal areas, are doing their utmost to find these pilots," Rahmani said. "If enemy forces are spotted, capturing them alive is a priority."

He added that security, law enforcement, and military forces are closely monitoring the situation. Rahmani also said individuals who succeed in capturing or neutralizing hostile forces would be formally "commended" by the governorate.

Earlier on Friday, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said its air defense systems had shot down a US F-35 fighter jet over central Iran, adding the fate of the pilot remained unknown.

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States can open the Strait of Hormuz with a little more time.

"With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

NEW YORK — The Iran war is making life more difficult for small business owners across the United States, who are grappling with shipping complications, higher costs and consumers tightening their grip on their wallets.

A shoe designer struggles to import shoes from Vietnam; a pistachio grower has millions of dollars worth of pistachio exports sitting in the water; and a home landscaper in Kansas City stockpiles fertilizer as prices skyrocket.

Small business owners say the severe supply chain disruptions during the pandemic were worse — but they fear if the Iran war stretches on for months, it might start to come close.

"The costs are rising, the routes are changing, and capacity is tightening," said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, a trade group for US companies that move cargo through the supply chain on all modes of transport.

"It's all happening at the same time, and that's a perfect storm for small businesses," he said.

The US is the world's largest exporter of pistachios, followed by Iran, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

At Nichols Farms in Hanford, California, chief operating officer Jared Lorraine said exports make up about 50 percent of the pistachio business, with shipments bound for Europe, China and, increasingly, the Middle East.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has made deliveries to several clients impossible. When the war started, he estimates about $5 million worth of pistachios got stranded in the water.

"While much of the public attention has been focused on oil, which is significant, really, the destruction of the food system is equally as serious," he said.

Matthew Tran, founder of Los Angeles-based footwear brand Birchbury, said the conflict has driven up shipping costs. The company makes minimalist shoes in Vietnam and ships to customers across the US, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Tran typically pays about $3,500 to ship a container from Vietnam, but costs have doubled to about $7,000 since the war began, as shippers reroute and face higher insurance costs. Delivery times have also increased by three to four weeks.

"Even though it doesn't seem like it would directly affect me because I'm going from Vietnam to America, it does affect me when there's more congestion," he said.

Supply chain disruption was worse during the pandemic, but he is worried about how long the war will last.

Jake Wilson, owner of Top Class Lawn Care in Kansas City, Missouri, maintains nearly 400 lawns across the city. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has upended fertilizer supplies, as the Middle East accounts for almost 30 percent of global exports of major fertilizers.

Within days of the war's outbreak, two suppliers told him to expect price increases and advised placing orders early. Rising prices are a concern because about 70 percent of his clients lock in annual lawn care rates and prepay at the beginning of the year.

Wilson said he wants to avoid returning to customers midyear to request higher payments because of rising fertilizer costs. "It's on me to try to get out ahead of it, the best I can, so I could still try to be profitable while keeping prices where I quoted at the beginning of the year."

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA

TEHRAN -- At least eight civilians were killed and 95 others wounded in US and Israeli attacks on a bridge in Iran's northern Alborz province on Thursday, the official news agency IRNA reported.

According to the report, the B1 bridge, located in the provincial capital Karaj, is one of the highest bridges in the Middle East and among the most complicated projects in Iran. It was targeted twice with missiles on Thursday.

IRNA cited Qodratollah Seif, the province's deputy governor for political, security and social affairs, as saying that among those killed and injured were the inhabitants of Bileqan village, passengers and the families who had gathered in the nearby areas for the Nature Day, a traditional Iranian holiday marking the end of the Nowruz holidays.

He added that there were no military activities in the areas surrounding the bridge, stressing that the structure was under construction and scheduled to be inaugurated in the coming days.

Seif said those injured in the strikes were immediately transferred to nearby medical centers, and some of them were hospitalized.

Condemning the attacks in a post on social media platform X, Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said, "Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender."

He added, "It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America's standing."

On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said in a statement on Thursday it has targeted and destroyed Amazon's cloud computing operation center in Bahrain in its first action against US and Israeli "espionage" firms in the region in retaliation for the "assassinations" of Iranians.

ABU DHABI -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is ready to participate in any measures to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing regional tensions, a senior UAE official said on Thursday.

Khalifa Shaheen Al Marar, UAE minister of state, said in an interview with Al Ittihad that the UAE stands ready to contribute to efforts ensuring the safety of maritime routes in the strategic waterway.

The minister stressed that the Strait of Hormuz is an international passage governed by international law, and that any attempt to close it would violate international law and threaten global security.

He added that the UAE will seek to safeguard its rights following what it described as Iranian aggression, while reaffirming the country's readiness to take part in collective measures to ensure regional stability.

Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities on Feb 28, killing Iran's then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded with waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and US assets in the Middle East.

China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue Zhai Jun held a phone conversation with Wolfgang Amadeus Brulhart, the Swiss special envoy for the Middle East and North Africa, on Thursday.

Both sides exchanged views on the current tensions in the Middle East.

Hopes for the de-escalation of the war on Iran were abruptly dampened after United States President Donald Trump said the fighting could last another three weeks despite claiming Washington's core objectives were near "completion".

Addressing the US on April 1, Trump doubled down and threatened to bomb Iran back to "the Stone Ages" even as he said the country had been "eviscerated" and was no longer a threat.

He called Iran the "bully of the Middle East" as he justified his ongoing war, saying it is an "investment for the children's future and your grandchildren's future".

"The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage … they must grab it and cherish it. They can do it easily," Trump said.

"We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.

"So to those countries that can't get fuel, many of which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves," he added, and suggested that they "buy oil from the United States".

Trump also thanked US allies in the Middle East — namely Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain — which bore much of the collateral damage as he called on other countries to do more to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

Notably Oman, which had been involved in the negotiations before the Feb 28 strikes on Iran, was left out.

Mehran Kamrava, a professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar, told China Daily that Trump's speech was directed at a domestic audience to justify the length of the war on Iran, the cause of the war on Iran, and the high prices of gasoline in the US.

Kamrava noted that nothing changed with Trump's speech. The anticipation was that the president would announce either a land invasion of Iran or a de-escalation of the conflict, Kamrava said, "and he did neither".

"The fact that he thanked Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar for the assistance in the US-Israeli war on Iran … only further justifies Iranian attacks on the Persian Gulf states," Kamrava said.

He noted that Iran's attacks on these US allies are part of the war as they have US military assistance and weaponry.

Kamrava said Trump's speech only adds to the justification of what the Iranians are saying, such as the significant number of US military personnel and troops across the Persian Gulf, US bases being used in the war against Iran, and Iran's claims that missiles are being fired at it from the UAE.

"All of these claims, by Iran, and now Trump's admissions that the Persian Gulf states are helping the war effort, give Iranians added munitions to hit targets across the UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain," said Kamrava.

Trump's address to the nation came hours after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reaffirmed in a lengthy post on X that Iran harbors no "enmity" or "ill will" toward ordinary US citizens, Europeans, or its Gulf neighbors.

In response to Trump's claims Tehran will agree to a deal within two to three weeks, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Iran "will not tolerate this vicious cycle of war, negotiations, ceasefire, and then repeating the same pattern," Al Jazeera reported.

Baghaei said Iran will continue to fight back for as long as US-Israeli strikes continue, but reiterated that Tehran does not regard its Gulf neighbors as "enemies" and called the conflict "catastrophic not only for Iran, but for the entire region and beyond."

"This is an unjust war that has been imposed on the Iranian people. We have no choice but to fight back strongly," he was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs reaffirmed its embrace of the Iranian community as "integral to its social fabric" amid reports that the UAE was barring some Iranians from entering and transiting in the country.

The UAE said it embraces the Iranian community that is respected and appreciated, forms part of its social fabric, and contributes to enhancing its diversity and openness.

"In light of the inaccurate media allegations circulating regarding the residency conditions of the Iranian community, the UAE reassures residents in the country that its institutional approach is based on solid foundations of procedures and frameworks adopted, in order to safeguard the safety and well-being of all members of society, without exception," said the foreign ministry statement.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com