Trump Silent on Downed Jets, Steps-up Threats to Force a Deal

Dubai- The US military on Saturday searched for a missing pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while President Donald Trump remained silent on the incident but reminded Tehran of his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: "48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them."

The US warplane, identified by Iran as an F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued. Iran has promised a reward for whoever turns in the missing pilot. It's the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, which could further pressure Trump to end the fighting.

Iran's joint military command on Saturday further said Iranian forces also struck two US Black Hawk helicopters the day before.

The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on Feb 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. It shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds with retaliatory strikes on US-Israeli bases across the region.

Trump earlier in the week said in a national address that the US has "beaten and completely decimated Iran". The US and Israel boasted that Iran's air defences were obliterated.

But on Saturday, an Iranian drone damaged the headquarters of US technology company Oracle in Dubai. Both the US and Israel have been targetting civilian targets and infrastructure across Iran and Lebanon.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, damaging a support building. It's the fourth time the facility was targeted. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated.

Iran hunts for enemy pilot'

The search for the US pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran's southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released information, but in an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of "an aircraft being shot down" in the Middle East, without further details.

A US crew member was rescued. But the Pentagon notified the US House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn't known.

In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said that what happened wouldn't affect negotiations with Iran.

Separately, Iranian state media said a US A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iran's defence forces. The crew's status was not immediately known.

Oracle's offices hit in Dubai

The Dubai headquarters of Oracle was hit after Iran's Revolutionary Guard accused the firm of assisting the US military. Footage verified by the AP outside the UAE showed a large hole in the building's southwestern corner.

The sheikhdom's Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a "minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade", saying there were no injuries.

Oracle Corp., based in Austin, Texas, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

IRGC has accused some large U.S. tech companies of being involved in "terrorist espionage" operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes.

Iran's veiled threat to disrupt second waterway

Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab-el-Mandeb.

The strait, 32 kilometres (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.

"What share of global oil, LNG, wheat, rice, and fertiliser shipments transits the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait?" Qalibaf wrote, referring to liquefied natural gas. "Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?"

Nearly 2000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Iran since the war began.

In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed, and there have been more than 1 million displaced people. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there