Iranian state media reported that at least four people were killed in a US-Israeli airstrike in the same region being searched for the missing US weapon systems officer.
Missile strikes hit telecommunications towers in the city of Dehdasht, Tasnim news agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported.
Unverified videos on social media show hundreds of people heading to a mountainous area in south-western Iran to search for the missing American. Iranian officials have been urging citizens to help find the missing crew member “alive” and are offering bounties for their capture.
A US A-10 Warthog aircraft that was part of an initial search-and-rescue mission for the downed jet was also shot and damaged, but its pilot was rescued after they ejected over the Gulf.
Also on Saturday, Trump reiterated his threat that he would resume attacks on Iranian energy plants after a 10 day pause for Tehran to “make a deal”.
On Truth Social he said “all Hell will reign down on them” if Iran failed to do so, or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours.
Iran waved off the threats and rejected Trump’s demand.
Gen Aliabadi, of Iran’s central military command, said Trump’s threat was a “helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action”.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, added: “If hostility escalates, the entire region will turn into hell for you; the illusion of defeating the Islamic Republic of Iran will become a quagmire into which you will sink.”
