LIVE: Iran shares ‘video of rescuers hunting for downed US pilot’

Iran has aired footage of an alleged US search and rescue effort amid claims an American warplane was shot down over the country earlier today.

Iranian television channels have shared video of a helicopter said to be flying low over the countryside across southern Iran apparently trying to locate the pilot.

It comes after Iranian military earlier today claimed it has brought down a F-35 fighter jet and forced it to crash.

However, pictures posted by Iranian media of the wreckage appeared to match an F-15 Strike Eagle aircraft based at a British RAF base.

The US military and the White House have not immediately responded to requests for comment.

Here are the latest developments from Middle East on the 35th day of the US-Israel war with Iran:

• Iran has launched new attacks on Gulf energy sites with strikes on a desalination plant and oil refinery in Kuwait as well as a gas complex in Abu Dhabi
• Iran has claimed it has shot down a second US F-35 fighter jet forcing it to crash
• But aviation experts studying pictures published of the wreckage say the aircraft is likely to be a F-15 plane based at a RAF base in Suffolk
• Donald Trump has said Iran’s electric power plants will be targeted after he boasted about a strike on the country’s tallest bridge
• Multiple fires have broken out at a Kuwaiti oil refinery after a drone attack
• Israel’s military has said cars, houses and a train station have been damaged in the latest missile salvo from Iran
• A French owned container ship sails through Strait of Hormuz in the first known transit linked to Western Europe
• Australians are cancelling their Easter holidays because of rising fears of fuel supplies in the country
• Pakistan has hiked petrol prices by more than 50 per cent – the second increase to costs in a month

Stick with us for the latest developments throughout the day.

Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed most of Iran’s steel production has been destroyed after the US and Israel targeted facilities.

In a new video posted today, Netanyahu said: ‘Together with our American friends, we continue to crush the terror regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructure.

‘In recent days, the Air Force has destroyed 70% of Iran’s steel production capacity. This is a tremendous achievement that deprives the Revolutionary Guards of both financial sources and the ability to produce a large number of weapons.

‘In full coordination between myself and President Trump, between the IDF and the United States Army, we will continue to crush Iran. This regime is weaker than ever—Israel is stronger than ever.’

Video showing the supposed rescue effort has aired on Iranian television

A US media outlet is now reporting Iran has shot down a US fighter jet with a search and rescue effort underway to locate two missing crew.

According to Axios, it marks the first time since the beginning of the Iran war that a US jet was downed by enemy fire.

The US military and the White House have not immediately responded to requests for comment.

The White House has sent a spending proposal calling for a huge $1.5 trillion US defense budget next year as it faces increased costs due to the war in Iran.

The total year-on-year increase in Pentagon spending would be the largest since World War II, US media reported, although presidential budgets are wish lists that have to be approved by Congress, rather than binding orders.

‘The budget builds upon the historic $1 trillion overall defense topline for 2026 and requests $1.5 trillion in total budgetary resources for 2027,’ the document reads.

‘This is a $445 billion, or 42 percent, increase from the 2026 total resource level.’

President Donald Trump on Friday said the US can ‘open’ the Strait of Hormuz and ‘take the oil’ if it has more time.

‘With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???’ Trump posted.

The message, on his Truth Social platform, did not explain how the US could end Iranian control over the Hormuz waterway or what oil Trump was referring to.

by Phillip Nieto, US Political Reporter

Iranian state media has urged civilians to capture American pilots after the regime claimed it shot down a US fighter jet.

The Iranian state-run Mehr News agency aired footage on Friday of a female anchor calling on civilians to help capture pilots of an American F-15E Strike Eagle that the regime says was allegedly shot down over Southern Iran.

Axios confirmed on Friday that Iran had shot down the fighter jet, citing Iranian media and a source familiar with the incident, and reported that a search-and-rescue operation is underway to locate the two crew members.

An American pilot of a warplane that was apparently shot down by Iran has likely been captured by Tehran, Iranian state media is reporting.

The Tasnim news agency is reporting the pilot ejected and landed in central Iran this morning. According to Iranian media, the US military attempted to extract the pilot before he was likely captured.

Iran earlier claimed it has shot down a second F-35 plane after it forced one to make an emergency landing in the Middle East on March 19.

US military has yet to comment on the claim but has regularly debunked Iran’s claims including boasts another warplane was shot down over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Donald Trump has fired off his first Truth Social post today but has not mentioned Iran.

Instead the President has announced his VP JD Vance will lead a crackdown of fraud in the US.

Trump said: ‘Vice President JD Vance is now in charge of “FRAUD” in the United States.

‘It is massive and pervasive, and the job he will be doing, in conjunction with many great people within the Trump Administration, will be a major factor in how great the future of our Country will be.’

Last night Trump posted Iran’s electric power plants will be targeted in the next strikes after the B1 bridge was partially destroyed yesterday.

At least 12 people have been injured in Abu Dhabi as a result of falling debris, authorities have said.

Officials say six Nepalese nationals and five Indians suffered ‘minor to moderate’ wounds in Ajban while another person from Nepal suffered major injuries.

The injuries occured from debris which fell to the ground following an interception of either a drone or a missile.

It comes after authorities said they were responding to two incidents in Abu Dhabi, one in Ajban, and the other at the Habshan gas complex – the largest gas processing plant in the country.

Operations were suspended earlier today as authorities tackled a fire caused by the incident, with no injuries reported, the statement said.

A drone strike in Iran hit a warehouse holding aid containers and emergency vehicles, a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross has said.

The strike in the southern province of Bushehr earlier today destroyed two containers, two buses and an unspecified number of emergency vehicles, the spokesperson said.

She did not attribute blame for the attack.

The IFRC is the only humanitarian group working across the country and has 100,000 responders. Three of them have been killed since the US-Israeli strikes on the country began on February 28.

Its head of delegation in Iran told Reuters on Thursday that medical needs were rising exponentially and supplies could run low.

Israel’s military has said it plans to strike two bridges in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region, warning residents in the area to evacuate.

‘In order to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment… the IDF intends to target the Sohmor and Mashghara bridges,’ the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.

‘For your safety, you must continue moving to the area north of the Zahrani River and refrain from any movement southward that may endanger your lives.’

It comes after the B1 highway bridge in Iran, said to be the tallest in the Middle East, was struck in airstrike yesterday.