US special forces have rescued an airman in a high-risk mission deep inside Iran while President Donald Trump threatened to rain "hell" on Iran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil flows vital to the world economy.
Mr Trump announced the rescue in the early hours of Sunday in a social media post that described the operation in a mountainous area as "one of the most daring" such missions in US history.
The airman, the weapons officer of an F-15 jet shot down on Friday, was wounded but "will be just fine", Mr Trump said in a message on X. The jet's pilot was rescued later that day.
In another post laden with expletives, President Trump told Iran to open the Hormuz waterway by Tuesday.
The conduit for around a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supply has been largely shut down since the war began five weeks ago.
"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran," he said on his Truth Social platform, threatening to hit energy and transport infrastructure that critics say would violate international law.
Watch: Footage purports to show the wreckage of US aircraft in Iran
"There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F**kin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - just watch! Praise be to Allah. President Donald J. Trump."
Adding to the pressure, the US's ally in the war, Israel - which attacked a major petrochemicals facility in Iran yesterday - was preparing to attack energy facilities next week and was awaiting US approval, a senior Israeli defence official said.
However, in the kind of mixed messaging that has baffled supporters, foes and financial markets alike, Mr Trump told Fox News that Iran was negotiating, with a deal possible by tomorrow.
Iran is demanding an end to hostilities and its parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf condemned Mr Trump's threats, saying he was being misled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Your reckless moves are dragging the United States into a living Hell for every single family, and our whole region is going to burn because you insist on following Netanyahu's commands," he posted on X.
Russia also urged the US to stop the "language of ultimatums" and prioritise negotiations.
With the impact from the Strait of Hormuz's closure on the global economy deepening by the day, the rescue of the US airman removed the risk for Mr Trump of a hostage crisis further souring the mood of an American public already sceptical of the war.
A US official said the operation, which Israel said it had assisted, involved dozens of military aircraft and encountered fierce resistance from Iranian forces.
US Senator Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican and US Army veteran, said the rescued pilot had climbed about 7,000 feet up an Iranian mountain to reach an evacuation point, citing a conversation with a senior Trump administration official in remarks on "Fox News Sunday."
Iran said several US aircraft were destroyed during the operation, including two military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters.
Footage posted on social media showed burned-out aircraft wreckage, which Reuters verified was in the area.
The loss of the F-15 last week, as well as an A-10 ground-attack aircraft in a separate incident, underlined the risks still facing US and Israeli aircrew despite Mr Trump's assertions of total control in the skies over Iran.
A senior administration official in the US said the rescue involved a CIA deception campaign that spread word inside Iran that US forces had already located the missing airman and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration.
While Iranian forces were confused and uncertain about what was unfolding, the weapons officer was found sheltering in a mountain crevice and rescued, the official said.
The war, which opened with US and Israeli air strikes across Iran on 28 February, has spread into Lebanon, where Israel has resumed its campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Thousands have died, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes killed another 11 people today, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Efforts brokered by Pakistan to bring the two sides to an agreement have so far failed.
"What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
Iran's chokehold over the narrow Strait of Hormuz shipping lane off its southern coast has pushed crude prices to a four-year high near $120 a barrel, squeezing consumers and businesses worldwide.
Iran has said it would allow passage through the Strait of Hormuz for vessels without US or Israeli connections and one tanker loaded with Iraqi crude and bound for Malaysia passed through, data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
Three Omani-operated tankers, a French-owned container ship and a Japanese-owned gas carrier have also transited the strait in recent days.
Iran has continued to launch missile and drone attacks against Israel and on US allies in the Gulf.
Earlier, in response to Israeli attacks on petrochemical sites in Iran, Iran hit petrochemical plants in Kuwait, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards also said they hit what they described as an Israeli ship in Dubai's Jebel Ali port.
In Israel's northern city of Haifa, media showed search-and-rescue teams combing debris after an Iranian missile hit a residential building. Israeli paramedics said nine people were being treated.
