Iranian forces on Saturday were searching for a U.S. pilot missing after two American warplanes were brought down over Iran and nearby waters, intensifying pressure on Washington as the conflict entered its sixth week with little indication that peace talks are imminent.
The incidents show the risks still facing U.S. and Israeli aircraft over Iran, despite assertions by President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that U.S. forces had total control of the skies.
The prospect of a U.S. service member alive and on the run in Iran comes days after Trump threatened to bomb Iran "back to the Stone Ages" in a conflict that has low public support among Americans and threatens lasting damage to the global economy.
With Iran's leadership defiant since the start of the war, its foreign minister in principle left the door open for holding peace talks with the U.S. via mediation from Pakistan, but gave no sign of Tehran's willingness to bow to Trump's demands.
"We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us," Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
Tehran mocks Trump’s war aims
Iranian fire brought down a two-seat U.S. F-15E jet, officials in both countries said, while two U.S. officials said the pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft that crashed in Kuwait after being hit by Iranian fire.
Two Black Hawk helicopters engaged in the search for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two U.S. officials told Reuters.
The scale of injuries to the crew was unclear.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing a southwestern area near where the pilot's plane came down, while the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy."
Iranians pummeled by American air power since the U.S. and Israel began their attacks on Feb. 28 celebrated the plane downings. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X the war had been "downgraded from regime change" to a hunt for pilots.
Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the rescue effort, a senior administration official told Reuters. Increasingly frustrated with the political fallout from the war, Trump is considering a broader cabinet shake-up in the wake of Attorney General Pam Bondi's removal this week, people familiar with the discussions said.
Any potential reshuffling could serve as a reset for the White House as it confronts rising gas prices, falling ratings and worries for Republicans heading into November's midterm elections.
The conflict has killed 13 U.S. military service members, with more than 300 wounded, the U.S. Central Command says.
Petrochemical zone struck in Iran
As hostilities continued on Saturday, Iranian state media reported air strikes at a petrochemical zone in southwestern Iran, with five people reported injured so far. A projectile also hit an auxiliary building near the perimeter of Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant, the Tasnim news agency said, killing one person. The operations of the plant were unaffected.
"Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine? Israel-U.S. have bombed our Bushehr plant four times now. Radioactive fallout will end life in GCC capitals, not Tehran," Araqchi said on X, referring to Arab states of the Gulf.
Iranian media also reported air strikes on warehouses storing bottled water in western Iran.
The Israeli military meanwhile said it had carried out "a wave of strikes" on Tehran.
The war has killed thousands and sparked an energy crisis since the initial strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas, but on Saturday the Tasnim news agency reported Iran had authorized the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports.
As countries from Germany to Japan sought to deal with the fallout, five European Union finance ministers called for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies in reaction to rising fuel prices, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
On Saturday, authorities in Dubai said no injuries were reported after debris from aerial interceptions hit the facades of two buildings in the emirate, including that of U.S. tech company Oracle in Dubai Internet City.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran. Early on Saturday, Israel's military said it was striking the militants' infrastructure sites in Beirut. Oil markets were closed after benchmark U.S. crude prices jumped 11% on Thursday after Trump offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war in a speech.