The war in Iran entered its sixth week on Saturday as U.S. forces continued searching for a missing crew member who bailed out of an F-15E fighter jet shot down by Iranian fire on Friday. A second U.S. combat plane was also shot down near the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said, intensifying a week of heavy fighting in the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran.
U.S. and Israeli warplanes struck multiple targets overnight and Saturday, including the Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone, a major oil-industry hub in southwestern Iran, Iranian media reported. The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said an airstrike near the Bushehr nuclear facility killed a security guard and damaged a support building. Israel said it conducted strikes in Tehran targeting ballistic and anti-aircraft missile storage sites.
In Dubai, authorities said debris from intercepted drones damaged the facades of two buildings, including one housing U.S. tech firm Oracle. Iran also struck a water desalination plant and an oil refinery in Kuwait.
Dozens of countries — not including the U.S. or Israel — have launched efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes. Iran has largely blocked the route in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes. President Trump said Friday it would take “a little more time” but would be easy to reopen.
Casualties and damage
As the fifth week closed, Pentagon data showed 365 U.S. service members wounded, with 13 killed in combat. Iran’s Health Ministry reported at least 2,076 people killed by U.S.-Israeli attacks since Feb. 28.
Downed jets, search and rescue
U.S. officials said one crew member of the F-15E was rescued Friday; the other remains missing as U.S. forces search. Photos circulating on Telegram from Iran’s Fars news agency showed aircraft debris resembling an F-15 vertical stabilizer and an image reportedly of an empty F-15 ejection seat. The F-15E typically carries a two-person crew.
Numerous videos emerged showing aircraft and helicopters resembling U.S. search-and-rescue planes operating in southwestern Iran; NPR geolocated one of the videos to a bridge in Khuzestan province roughly 100 miles inland. Separately, a U.S. official told NPR a second combat plane with a single crew member was shot down near the Strait of Hormuz; that crew member was rescued. These downings are rare and challenge prior U.S. assertions of “total air dominance” over the theater.
Lebanon fighting and displacement
Lebanese authorities said at least 23 people were killed in Israeli attacks Friday as Israel stepped up strikes against Hezbollah militants. Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said the roughly 600,000 residents forced from southern Lebanon would not be allowed to return until Israel’s northern communities are secure, without specifying how that would be determined. More than one million people across Lebanon have been displaced. Katz warned Hezbollah would “pay a heavy price,” and Israeli plans discussed occupying a large area of southern Lebanon as a “security zone.” Ground operations and airstrikes have razed residential buildings and severed bridges, disrupting routes between southern Lebanon and the north.
While Iran has not directly fired into Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut warned Iran may target U.S. universities in Lebanon. The American University of Beirut moved some classes online and the embassy advised U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon.
Attack on Oracle building in Dubai
Iran targeted Oracle’s multistory office in Dubai overnight; debris fell on the building’s facade. The drone attack occurred when offices were typically empty and no injuries were reported. Iranian authorities framed the attack as retaliation for the attempted assassination this week of former foreign minister Kamal Kharazi, who was severely wounded while his wife was killed. Reports say Kharazi had engaged Pakistani mediators about possible U.S.-Iran talks to end the war. It remains unclear which actor carried out the attack on Kharazi; most strikes on Iran are being coordinated by the U.S. and Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard named 18 U.S. tech and defense companies as targets for further assassination attempts, listing firms including Palantir, Meta, Google, Microsoft and others.
Operational and diplomatic notes
The strikes have affected civilian infrastructure beyond Iran’s borders: debris from intercepted drones damaged two buildings in Dubai, and Iran’s strikes hit facilities in Kuwait. International efforts to secure and reopen the Strait of Hormuz are underway but face challenges as Iran restricts maritime traffic.
The downing of U.S. combat aircraft and the need for search-and-rescue operations underscore growing risks in the air campaign and raise questions about claims of uncontested U.S. air superiority.
Contributors
Aya Batrawy contributed from Dubai, Lauren Frayer from Beirut, Tom Bowman from Washington, D.C., and Miguel Macias from Seville, Spain.