Iran says several 'enemy aircraft' destroyed during US pilot rescue mission
Several aircraft were destroyed in the south of Iran's Isfahan province during a U.S. mission to find a stranded airman, Iranian military officials said on Sunday, Reuters reported.
U.S. officials told Reuters late on Saturday that a second airman whose F-15 jet was downed on Friday in Iran was rescued, a day after the first crew member was recovered.
"Additional investigations by experts on the ground revealed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters of the US army were destroyed by our forces," the spokesperson of the unified command of Iranian armed forces said.
Trump invokes religious rhetoric in praise of Iran rescue, drawing criticism
President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials cast the rescue of a U.S. airman in Iran as an “Easter miracle” on Sunday, framing the operation in religious terms that portrayed the war as a just cause and divinely blessed, Reuters reported.
In the past, administrations typically issued postcard-style Easter greetings, and critics said officials' messages this time had blurred the line between faith and policy by invoking religion to justify the war and shape the military’s conduct.
"The rescue was an Easter Miracle," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press," and some cabinet members followed with messages of their own, according to Reuters.
Trump issues expletive-laden threat to Iran over Hormuz Strait blockage
US President Donald Trump has published an expletive-laden post on social media in which he threatened to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges if it failed to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping, BBC reported.
He repeated an earlier threat to unleash "hell" but told US media there was a "good chance" of a deal being reached with Tehran.
Iran mocked his ultimatum, dismissing it as "helpless, nervous and stupid".
Seven injured Nepalis discharged in UAE
All seven Nepalis injured in a drone wreckage crash in Abu Dhabi, UAE, have been discharged after treatment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri said.
A total of 12 people were injured in the incident on Friday. The last remaining patient, who had sustained a hand injury, has also been discharged.
The Nepali Embassy in the UAE followed up with the victims and monitored the situation.
