Iran has managed to shoot down American fighter jets for the first time as the conflict in the Middle East between Iran, the U.S., and Israel enters its 36th day of fighting. One of the pilots was rescued and is in good condition, while the second pilot is suspected to have been captured by Iranian forces.
For the media, President Donald Trump gave no comment on the measures he would take if the American pilot is captured by the Iranians. "We hope this does not happen," said the U.S. president, adding that the downing of the aircraft would not affect negotiations. Searches for the pilot are ongoing as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have surrounded an area in the southwestern provinces of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, where the plane is believed to have crashed.
Meanwhile, Israel and Iran have not ceased attacks. In southern Israel, explosions occurred as a result of ballistic missile strikes from Iran on an industrial area, though no casualties have been reported.
Meanwhile, massive attacks have been reported in the northern part of Tehran. There have also been attacks in Beirut, where the infrastructure of the terrorist group Hezbollah was targeted.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf issued a threat today against another maritime chokepoint in the Middle East, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the southern gateway to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.
"What portion of global shipments of oil, LNG, wheat, rice, and fertilizers pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait? Which countries and companies make up the largest volumes of transit through the strait?" Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X.