Iran: recherches pour retrouver un aviateur américain, le nucléaire visé
Tehran and Washington were working hard on Saturday to try to find one of the two occupants of the first American plane to crash since the start of the war in Iran, where a nuclear power plant was targeted again.
The Iranian military claimed to have shot down an F-15E fighter-bomber on Friday. One of the two pilots ejected and was extracted during a raid by special forces; the fate of the second remains unknown, according to US media reports.
The Iranian military also claimed to have hit another American aircraft, an A-10 Thunderbolt II, which subsequently crashed into the Gulf. The New York Times had previously reported the crash of an American plane near the Strait of Hormuz, adding that its sole pilot had been rescued unharmed.
After a long silence, the White House merely stated that President Donald Trump had "been kept informed" of the loss of an aircraft in southwestern Iran.
In an interview with NBC, he asserted that this changed "absolutely nothing" regarding the holding of possible negotiations with Tehran to find a solution to the conflict, which is shaking the global economy.
Since the start of the war, which began on February 28 with an Israeli-American offensive against Tehran, no American soldiers have been killed or captured on Iranian soil, but 13 have died in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
The hostilities have resulted in thousands of deaths, mainly in Iran and Lebanon.
"Generous reward"
The F-15E was destroyed by an air defense system belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's ideological army, a military spokesman said. "Further searches are underway," he said.
Iranian television broadcast images presented as those of the wreckage, promising a "generous reward" to anyone who handed over the pilot.
A video authenticated by AFP shows Iranian police officers firing towards American helicopters flying over the Alqchin-e Olyadans sector, in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad region (southwest).
Houston Cantwell, a former US Air Force pilot, told AFP that during similar operations, special forces are kept permanently on alert to rescue pilots in enemy territory.
Targeted nuclear power plant
Meanwhile, attacks continue against various Iranian infrastructures, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant sector (south), where a guard was killed, but without damage to the facilities, according to a state media outlet.
"Israel and the United States have bombed our Bushehr nuclear facility four times now. The radioactive fallout will end life in the GCC capitals, not in Tehran," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned on X, referring to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
"No increase in radiation levels" has been reported by Iran, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose Director General, Rafael Grossi, reminded on X that "nuclear power plant sites or surrounding areas must never be attacked".
In Tehran, where thick grey smoke of undetermined origin covered the north of the capital in the morning, a resident told AFP of his discouragement.
"Things are really tough right now. We can't predict anything beyond six hours," said the 40-year-old photographer, reached from Paris.
The man explains that he is reduced to selling personal belongings online in order to survive and to taking refuge in alcohol "hoping that the Islamic Republic will one day disappear".
A commercial terminal at a border crossing with Iraq was struck, killing an Iraqi man, Iranian media and an Iraqi security source reported.
A petrochemical facility was targeted in Mahshahr (southwest), injuring five people, as well as a cement plant in Bandar Khamir (south), without causing any casualties, according to Iranian media.
Donald Trump had threatened to target Iranian civilian infrastructure such as power plants, even though this could expose the United States to accusations of war crimes.
More than 30 universities have been targeted in Iran since the start of the conflict, the Iranian Minister of Science also stated.
A ship under attack
Iran says it is targeting the Gulf, which is home to American interests, in retaliation for strikes targeting its territory.
In Bahrain, falling debris from intercepted drones caused four minor injuries and material damage, while in Dubai, two buildings were damaged, including that of the American company Oracle.
The Revolutionary Guards had threatened this week to target American technology companies in the region.
In Israel, also a target of Iranian strikes, a person was slightly injured at dawn by shards of glass in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, according to rescue services, after an alert about Iranian missiles.
On the Lebanese front, the Israeli army again called on residents of several sectors of the southern city of Tyre to evacuate, warning that it was preparing to act against the Islamist movement Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran.
A hospital in Tyre was damaged by two strikes that targeted nearby buildings, injuring 11 people, according to the Ministry of Health.
In the Strait of Hormuz, virtually closed by Tehran since the start of the war, the Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a ship "linked" to Israel with a drone, which caught fire.
Navigation is proceeding at a trickle in this strait crucial for the global supply of oil and gas: a second ship belonging to a Turkish shipowner was able to pass, as well as a ship flying the Indian flag loaded with LPG.
Spain and four other European Union countries (Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal) have called on Brussels to tax windfall profits of energy companies, in response to rising fuel prices, said Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.
AFP
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