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States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

Iran’s military also said it downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot of that plane was rescued.

The local Mehr news agency yesterday quoted the deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Fattah Mohammadi, as saying the search for the missing pilot involved “presence of popular forces and tribesmen alongside military forces and is still ongoing”.

He added that “last night, people fired at enemy helicopters with rifles and did not allow them to land”.

Images posted on social media and verified by AFPTV showed Iranian police firing at a US helicopter in southwestern Iran as US forces searched for the airman.

Iran’s military said a “new advanced” air defence system was used to bring down the fighter jet.

Iranians celebrated the downing of the planes. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf said on X that the war had been “downgraded from regime change” to a hunt for pilots.

The incidents highlight the risks still facing US and Israeli aircraft over Iran, despite assertions by Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that US forces had full control of the skies.

Meanwhile, US-Israeli strikes hit an area near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant yesterday, prompting its foreign minister to warn that any radioactive fallout would be felt most acutely by Gulf neighbours.

The strike near the Bushehr plant killed a guard and led Russia, which partly constructed and helps operate the facility, to evacuate 198 workers.

“Remember the Western outrage about hostilities near Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine? Israel-US have bombed our Bushehr plant four times now. Radioactive fallout will end life in GCC capitals, not Tehran,” Araghchi said on X, referring to Gulf Arab states.

Bushehr is considerably closer to Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar than to the Iranian capital.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on X that no increase in radiation levels had been reported, but expressed “deep concern”, noting it was the fourth such incident in recent weeks.

With Iran’s leadership remaining defiant, its foreign minister said in principle that peace talks with the US could take place via mediation from Pakistan, but gave no indication of willingness to accept Trump’s demands.

“We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war imposed on us,” Araghchi said on X.

As hostilities continued yesterday, Iranian state media reported air strikes in a petrochemical zone in southwestern Iran, injuring at least five people.

Iranian media also reported strikes on warehouses storing bottled water in western Iran.

The Israeli military said it carried out “a wave of strikes” on Tehran, targeting air defence sites, ballistic missile silos and research centres.

Iran also fired several rounds of missiles toward Israel, injuring several people in Tel Aviv and surrounding areas. Since midnight, seven waves of Iranian missiles have been launched towards Israel, according to the Israeli military.

Iran has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. However, the Tasnim news agency reported that Iran had authorised the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports.

Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said domestic refiners continued to secure stable crude oil supplies from the Middle East.

In a statement on X, the ministry said, “Indian refiners have secured their crude oil requirements, including from Iran.”

The statement came as another Indian-flagged tanker carrying LPG safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Public broadcaster All India Radio said it was the “seventh India-bound LPG tanker” to cross the strait since the war began.

Authorities in Dubai said no injuries were reported after debris from aerial interceptions struck the facades of two buildings, including that of US tech company Oracle in Dubai Internet City.

Israel has also been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the group fired at Israel in support of Iran. Early yesterday, the Israeli military said it was striking militant infrastructure sites in Beirut.