LIVE UPDATES: Conflict in the Middle East (April 4, 2026)

CAIRO/WASHINGTON - Iranian and US forces were searching for a missing American pilot on Saturday from one of two warplanes downed over Iran and the Gulf, while President Donald Trump warned Tehran time was running out on his latest deadline for a deal to end the war.

The prospect of a US service member alive and on the run in Iran raised the stakes for Washington as the conflict entered its sixth week with scant prospect of peace talks in sight and polls showing low public support.

Iran's decision to allow energy supplies headed for the Philippines to safely cross the Strait of Hormuz was part of the government's risk management initiatives and would not immediately bring down domestic fuel prices, Department of Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said Saturday.

In a Facebook post, Garin said the Philippines had secured "a safe and preferential access" to the Strait of Hormuz, adding this would reduce the risk of oil supply disruptions, strengthen protection for Philippine-linked cargo, and improve the safety considerations for Filipino seafarers amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — More than a  month into the Middle East conflict, some war-weary overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have made a tough choice not to be repatriated to the Philippines as they would rather take their chances here to support their families back home.

These migrant Filipinos are holding on, some of whom say it is more difficult to start over again back in the Philippines.

The Israeli military said early on Saturday it had begun striking infrastructure sites of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in Beirut. —Reuters

WASHINGTON/CAIRO - Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, with two US pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran's forces.

The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.

NBC News reported that US helicopters were struck by Iranian fire as they participated in the search-and-rescue operation. All the service members from the helicopters are safe, NBC News said, citing a US official.

The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian air defenses, officials in both countries said.

The second plane, an A-10 attack aircraft, was hit by Iranian air defenses over southern waters near the Hormuz Strait before crashing, according to Iranian state media, which cited the Iranian army. US officials confirmed that the plane had been shot down and said the pilot had been rescued.

The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E pilot are not publicly known. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot's plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy."

Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the US and Israel’s war had been “downgraded from regime change" to a hunt for their pilots.

Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No sign of end to war

The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.

Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead-end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.

So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command.

Iran has rained drones and missiles down on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.

In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.

Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.

Trump threat to strike bridges, power plants

On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.

On Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as US strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.

"Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!" he wrote in a subsequent post.

On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran's southern Bushehr province.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.

Oil markets were closed after benchmark US crude prices gained 11% on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war. —Reuters

WASHINGTON - A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and search-and-rescue efforts have so far recovered one of two crew members who ejected, a US official told Reuters, in the first known incident of its kind in the nearly five-week-old war.

The Pentagon and US Central Command did not respond to requests for comment.

The prospect of a US pilot being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for the US in a conflict that, according to opinion polls, has struggled to win popular support among Americans.

It also presents a challenge to the US military, which faces the twin goals of trying to save the life of an American behind enemy lines while safeguarding anyone involved in perilous rescue missions.

The incident comes over a week after US President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that Iran's military had been defeated to the point that "we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can't do a thing about it."

Two Blackhawk helicopters involved in the search effort were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, two US officials told Reuters. In a separate incident, an A10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, the officials said. The degree of any injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been briefed, without confirming any details.

Iranian hunt for downed crew

Iranian officials called on civilians to be on the lookout for survivors and have flooded social media with images that purport to show wreckage from the aircraft.

Two US officials said the aircraft was an F-15E fighter jet, which has two seats, one for a pilot and the second for a weapons systems officer. It was unclear which of the two was recovered, and the US official who confirmed the recovery did not offer any details on how it took place.

US air crews undergo training for what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training, or SERE, but few airmen are fluent in Persian and staying undetected while seeking rescue will be a challenge.

William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, said images of the plane's tail fin seen in photos posted on social media are consistent with that of an F-15E Strike Eagle, which carries two crew.

The governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said anyone who captured or killed the crew "would be specially commended," Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported.

Trump's threats and war toll

The incident follows threats this week by Trump to bomb the country back to the "Stone Age," including by attacking Iran's energy infrastructure and desalination plants, as he presses Tehran to end the war on US terms.

So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.

While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as in tatters, Reuters first reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability.

As of last week, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran's missile arsenal. The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.

The US and Israeli war on Iran has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and hitting the global economy with soaring energy prices that are fueling fears of inflation in countries around the world.

The war is unpopular with Americans, with two-thirds believing the US should work to end its involvement in the conflict quickly, even if that means not achieving the goals set out by the ?Trump administration, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed this week. —Reuters

TOKYO —A Japanese-owned liquefied natural gas tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, its co-owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said on Friday, making it the first Japan-linked vessel to have crossed the channel since the onset of the Iran war.

Crew members on the Panama-flagged ship, "SOHAR LNG", remain safe, a Mitsui O.S.K. Lines spokesperson told Reuters, while declining to disclose when it crossed the Strait and whether any negotiations had been required.

The Asahi newspaper earlier reported the crossing.

Until US-Israeli attacks on Iran began at the end of February, leading to the effective closure of the Strait, it was the route for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Japan was particularly dependent as around 90% of its oil and 6% of its LNG imports crossed the Strait.

Dozens stranded

As of early on Friday, 45 ships owned or operated by Japanese entities had been stranded because they could not cross the Strait, according to Japan's transport ministry.

Among those were 12 crude oil tankers, 12 tankers loaded with refined or chemical products, nine car carriers and six LNG tankers, broadcaster TBS has reported.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines last month said one vessel it owns and operates sustained a minor impact in the region. The cause was unknown and no one was hurt.

On Thursday, a container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM has also crossed through the Strait, vessel tracking data showed.

Chinese ships, Indian-flagged gas tankers and a Greek-operated crude tanker have passed through the Strait since the start of the Iran war. —Reuters