The desperate hunt for a downed American airman intensified on Saturday night as US special forces raced against armed Iranian nomads to find the missing crewman.
Tehran placed a bounty of £50,000 on the head of the weapons systems operator who ejected from his F-15E Strike Eagle on Friday moments before the jet was ‘obliterated’ by a surface to air missile.
The pilot was rescued within 45 minutes of the plane going down over treacherous mountain terrain in southern Iran.
But US officials now fear the missing crewman could be used as a human bargaining chip.
A source close to Donald Trump told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Everything is being thrown at finding the missing airman.
‘We have special forces in the area and the might of the entire US military is in this hunt.
‘The fear is he will be captured and used as a pawn. We need to find him before the Iranians and bring him home.’
The source added that Mr Trump is being ‘briefed around the clock’ about the search-and-rescue mission and said the President chose to remain at the White House this weekend instead of going to his home in Florida, ‘because he wants to be at the heart of things’.
Iranian media has broadcast images of US aircraft searching for the missing airman while constantly repeating the reward for his capture, which has prompted rag-tag groups of goat herders and farmers to take up makeshift weapons and join the hunt.
Iranian leaders encouraged people to head to the area to capture the American but warned: ‘Do not mistreat him.’
Mr Trump last night warned Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, saying: ‘Time is running out – 48 hours before all hell will reign (sic) down on them. Glory be to God!’
Israel has stopped attacks in the area where the jet was shot down and Israel Special Forces are said to be helping US Navy Seals and Army Green Berets on the ground.
The missing officer is trained in SERE (survival, evasion, resistance and escape) and may have been injured after ejecting.
Trained to survive for several days, he will hide during daylight and if he moves at all will do so at night.
Marina Miron, from the defence studies department at King’s College London, said ‘he will be trying to blend with the terrain and survive until he is found’.
She added: ‘The problem here is, the better he hides, the more difficult it will be to locate him for those conducting the rescue.’
Laurel Rapp, of the US and North America programme at Chatham House, told the BBC that capturing the airman would be a ‘huge prize’ for Iran and offer them a ‘very powerful bargaining chip’.
A former military hostage negotiator last night raised the possibility Iran had already captured him, telling the BBC they may be using his location beacon to lure in US forces.
The downed jet is thought to have previously been based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, but sources suggest they were moved to Jordan when the war began.
Iran parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf trolled Mr Trump on X yesterday, saying: ‘After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from “regime change” to “Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please? Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses”.’
The hunt for the airman marks a pivotal point in the war, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, which began on February 28.
If captured, it raises the spectre of a repeat of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis when militant students took over the US embassy in Tehran and kept 52 Americans captive for 444 days.
The crisis defined Jimmy Carter’s last year as president and Mr Trump has repeatedly called the incident ‘weak and pathetic’.
Mr Trump has vowed the downed airman will not hamper talks to end the conflict – talks the Iranians deny are even taking place.
Despite the President touting ‘swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield’, Iran has launched at least 50 ballistic missiles and more than 150 drones at US targets in the past 72 hours, including the missile which downed the F-15E fighter.
A US Black Hawk helicopter involved in the search was hit by ground fire but landed safely.
And an A-10 Warthog plane crashed in the Gulf but the pilot ejected over Kuwait and was rescued.
Democratic senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost her legs while serving as an Army helicopter pilot during the war in Iraq, said: ‘As someone shot down behind enemy lines, my heart goes out to the crew members and their loved ones waiting for answers.’
Some 13 US service members have been killed in the war to date – seven by hostile fire and six in a plane crash.
Mr Trump ramped up his attacks against European allies this week for their refusal to show ‘courage’ in helping to open the Strait of Hormuz.
Nato’s Secretary General Mark Rutte will visit the White House next week.
