Dubai, Apr 4 (AP) The search is on for one missing US service member while another was rescued after two US warplanes went down in separate incidents including the first shoot-down since the Iran war began
nearly five weeks ago.
The incidents occurred just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the US has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A US crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a US military search-and-rescue operation was underway.
Separately, Iranian state media said a US A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.
The war now entering its sixth week is destabilising economies around the world as Iran responds to the US and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region’s energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Here is the latest: Kuwait continues to intercept Iranian aerial attacks ——————————————————- In its daily briefing posted on X, the Kuwaiti army said Saturday that it had intercepted eight ballistic missiles and 19 drones over the last 24 hours.
Since the war began, Kuwaiti air forces have engaged with a total of 709 Iranian drones, 327 ballistic missiles and nine cruise missiles, according to the briefing.
Relatives of the late Gen Soleimani have been arrested ———————————————————– The US State Department says the niece and grand niece of Gen Qassem Soleimani, who had lead the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, are now in ICE custody.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested after the State Department terminated their green cards.
The State Department said “as identified by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.” Afshar’s husband is also banned from entering the US.
Russia’s nuclear chief says 198 workers are being evacuated from Iran’s nuclear power plant ————————————————————- The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom says 198 workers are being evacuated from Iran’s Russian-built nuclear power plant.
Alexei Likhachev told reporters this is “the main” and “the biggest evacuation wave.” He said it was planned and began Saturday morning, shortly after a strike hit the Bushehr plant, killing a security guard, who was an Iranian citizen.
Buses with the evacuated workers are on their way to the neighboring Armenia, Likhachev said, adding that Israel and the US will be informed about the routes of their journey.
Russian news agency Interfax said Rosatom has already evacuated more than 400 workers from Bushehr.
Likhachev said the strike Saturday was “carried out effectively on the plant’s physical security perimeter” and that “the likelihood of damage, of a possible nuclear incident, is unfortunately only increasing by the day.” Israeli strikes kill 1,422 since Israel-Hezbollah war began ————————————————————- Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes killed 54 people and wounded 156, the Lebanese health ministry said Saturday.
The ministry said the overall death toll includes 126 children and 93 women, since Israel launched intense airstrikes across Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran on March 2. The strikes have also wounded 4,294 others.
Among those killed are 54 health workers, while Israeli strikes have targeted 87 emergency medical service facilities, the health ministry said.
On Saturday, a wave of Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across southern Lebanon, one of them killed two children and wounded 22 others, according to the health ministry.
A Tehran psychiatric hospital was damaged by US-Israeli strikes on an adjacent site —————————————————————— The Delaram Sina Hospital wasn’t directly hit, but a nearby explosion damaged parts of the building and blew out most of the windows. No casualties were reported at the 100-bed hospital that specializes in treating patients suffering from anxiety and post traumatic stress disorders.
“Electricity to the hospital was cut off,” hospital chief Mohammad Asgari told reporters Saturday. “All the glass, windows and doors were shattered, many walls collapsed, and the hospital was hit by multiple pieces of shrapnel.” Asgari said that fortunately the ward close to the explosion site housed no patients at the time.
The explosion left the facility with shattered glass, damaged beds and broken equipment covered with dust, AP video showed.
Trump warns Iran on the Strait of Hormuz ——————————————— The US president on Saturday re-upped a previous April 6 deadline for Iran to open up the shipping channel or face devastating consequences.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on his social media account Saturday. “Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” The president made his comment as he remained at the White House on Saturday morning. The Trump administration hasn’t made an official comment on the U.S. fighter jet shot down in Iran.
Another global waterway is at risk ———————————– Iran’s parliament speaker has made a veiled threat against another crucial waterway in the Middle East. The Bab el-Mandeb strait is at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and sees about a quarter of global container shipping traffic to and from the Suez Canal.
Saudi Arabia has been sending millions of barrels of crude oil a day through the Bab el-Mandeb because of Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz. But concerns have emerged around the Bab el-Mandeb with the recent entry into the war of Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Houthis previously targeted more than 100 merchant vessels on the Red Sea — between the Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal — because of the war in Gaza. Those attacks stopped after US and Israeli airstrikes.
Now the Houthis, and perhaps Iran itself, could resume attacks. The Houthis have said they won’t allow the US and Israel to use the Red Sea for attacks on Iran.
Iranian Red Crescent says aid worker killed in airstrike ———————————————————- It said the rescuer was killed in an airstrike Saturday morning in Isfahan Province. It’s the fourth aid worker to die in the war.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the aid worker, Abolfazl Dehnavi, was on duty.
Outspoken Iranians overseas say their loved ones are being detained back home —————————————————————- Iran’s government is detaining family members and threatening to seize property of Iranian opposition figures in exile, some tell The Associated Press, in the latest crackdown on dissenting voices as the war rages on.
Activists overseas play a key role in tracking the crackdown, which is complicated by the internet shutdown imposed earlier this year during massive nationwide protests against the Islamic theocracy. Watchdogs say security forces shot and killed thousands of people.
The war with the United States and Israel has intensified authorities’ threats against anyone speaking to outside media or activists. Now that pressure appears to be expanding to intimidate activists in exile. (AP) RD RD
