Iran war: What is happening on day 37 of US-Israeli attacks? 

The missing crew member from a US F-15E jet shot down in Iran on Friday has been found and rescued after a dramatic firefight as United States President Donald Trump set a 48-hour deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway through which 20 percent of the oil and gas passes has been under a de facto Iranian blockade in response to the US-Israel war on Iran. Iran’s central military command on Saturday brushed aside Trump’s threat, calling his ultimatum “a helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.

Iran says US-Israeli attacks have killed five people and wounded 170 others at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone, and that more than 30 universities have been targeted since the war was launched on February 28.

Here is what we know about the latest developments:

In Iran

• The airman, who Trump said held the rank of colonel, was the second of the two crew of an F-15E that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences. He was rescued after what was described as a “heavy firefight”. A US government official told Al Jazeera that the rescue occurred after fierce firefights and involved hundreds of special forces.
• Iran has yet to comment. On Friday, Iranian officials had urged citizens to help find the missing crew member, ‌hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on February 28.
• Strikes killed five people overnight in Iran’s southwest during the rescue of the missing US crewmember, Iranian media reported on Sunday.
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Sunday claimed it had shot down a US aircraft that was looking for the missing officer in the southern region of Isfahan, according to Fars. The news agency posted a photo on its Telegram channel, showing thick smoke rising from a field and said: “Trump’s desperate attempt to cover up a huge defeat.”
• The IRGC said it destroyed the MQ-9 Reaper drone in the central city of Isfahan, according to the Fars news agency. The drone is typically used by the US and is capable of flying long distances at a medium altitude.
• US-Israeli strikes in Ardabil province near Iran’s northwestern border with Azerbaijan killed three people, Iranian media cited an official as saying. Iran has said US-Israeli attacks have killed five people and wounded 170 others at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone.
• Russia has evacuated another 200 staff members from the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant following a deadly attack on the site’s perimeter, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warning that such raids expose the entire region to the risk of radioactive contamination.
• An Iranian security official has said Tehran is moving forward in the ongoing war according to its plans and “specific target bank” and warned of “a big surprise” in store for the US and Israel. In a statement carried by Fars, the official said the US’s “target bank is inaccurate” and dismissed Trump’s threats to strike bridges as “laughable”.
• The Tehran Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the seizure of assets and freezing of bank accounts of more than 100 high-profile individuals accused of “supporting the enemy abroad”.

In the Gulf

• Two Kuwaiti power and water desalination plants were damaged by a drone attack from Iran, the Ministry of Electricity and Water said on Sunday, noting the attack caused “the shutdown of two electricity generating units”. The ministry said there were no reports of deaths or injuries.
• Earlier on Sunday, Kuwait’s military said its air defences were working to intercept missiles and drones. An Iranian drone attack had also caused “significant” damage to a government building in Kuwait City on Saturday evening, a Ministry of Finance statement said, adding there were no injuries.
• Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said on Sunday that civil defence teams extinguished a fire at an unspecified “facility” following an Iranian attack, noting there were no reported deaths or injuries. The ministry said earlier that it was “taking measures to control a fire in a facility as a result of the Iranian aggression”.
• ⁠Authorities ⁠in Abu Dhabi said ⁠on Sunday that ⁠operations at petrochemicals company Borouge’s factory ‌were suspended after fires broke out at the ⁠facility following the ⁠fall of debris.
• The Ministry of Defence of the United Arab Emirates said its air defences were responding to missile and drone attacks after Iran said it was targeting the country’s “aluminium industries”. “Please remain in a safe place and follow the warnings and updates on official websites,” the National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said.
• Mohamed ElBaradei, a former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has urged Gulf countries to act after Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran. In a post in Arabic on X, he wrote, “Please, once again, do everything in your power before this madman turns the region into a ball of fire.”

In the US

• The US president has confirmed the rescue of the missing officer from an F-15E jet. “WE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History…” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
• The US Army’s former chief of staff, General Randy George, has sent a farewell letter after his removal by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to The Hill. In the letter, George said the US Army deserves “leaders of character” and thanked officers for their support.
• Planet Labs, the satellite imaging company, has said it will indefinitely withhold visuals of Iran and the ⁠region of conflict in the Middle East to comply with a request from the Trump administration.
• Two family members of slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani have been arrested in the US after their residency permits were rescinded, the State Department said. However, Iranian media spoke with two daughters of Soleimani, who said the detained individuals were not related to him.

In Israel

• The Israeli military said it had detected a missile launched from Yemen towards Israeli territory, the fifth such attack since the start of the war on Iran. “Aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat,” it said.
• Yemen’s Houthis, alongside Iranian forces and Hezbollah, have claimed a joint long-range attack on Israel, targeting Lod airport in the Jaffa area and key military targets.
• Several loud explosions were heard over Jerusalem after the Israeli military warned it had detected missiles inbound from Iran. Reporters of the AFP news agency reported hearing at least six blasts. Earlier in the day, missile attacks on Tel Aviv and parts of central Israel wounded five Israelis, said the rescue services.
  

  

In Lebanon and Syria

• Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli forces launched air attacks on the town of Kfar Hatta in the southern Sidon district. The attack came hours after the Israeli military issued a threat of an impending attack and issued forced orders for residents there to flee their homes.
• Israel’s military renewed strikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after issuing evacuation warnings, following attacks on nearby buildings that damaged a hospital.
• At least five people were killed [??] in the town of Maarakeh after Israel bombed the town. Israel has carried out strikes across Lebanon and launched a ground invasion in the south after Hezbollah entered the war in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Energy crisis and the Strait of Hormuz

• Members of the oil-producing grouping OPEC are set to meet on Sunday to decide on their output policy for May. At its last meeting on March 1, OPEC+ agreed to a modest output boost of 206,000 barrels per day for April, just as the US-Israel war on Iran began to disrupt oil flows from key members in the Middle East. A month later, the war has led to the largest oil supply disruption on record. Crude prices have crossed $100 per barrel from $65 before the war.
• Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar. She is expected to visit the UAE on Sunday as oil and gas supplies have been disrupted amid the war.
• Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines says the Indian-flagged LPG tanker Green Sanvi, which is owned by one of its subsidiary companies, made the crossing on Saturday after being stuck in the Gulf following the outbreak of war.
• Iran will allow Iraqi shipping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, its military command said, despite its broader blockade of the key sea lane at the mouth of the Gulf. Iraq has been plunged into severe economic distress as it exports most of its oil through the strait, which effectively remains blocked.