By Phil Stewart and Menna AlaaElDin
WASHINGTON/CAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. special forces rescued an airman stranded in Iran in a high-risk mission deep inside hostile territory while President Donald Trump threatened to rain "hell" on Tehran if it did not reopen the Gulf for oil flows vital to the world economy.
Trump announced the rescue in the early hours of Sunday in a social media post that described the operation in a mountainous area as "one of the most daring" such missions in U.S. history.
The airman, the weapons officer of an F-15 jet shot down on Friday, was wounded but "will be just fine", Trump said in a message on X. The pilot was rescued on Friday.
In another post, laden with expletives, Trump repeated a demand that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for around a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supply, which has been largely shut down since the war began five weeks ago.
"Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran," he said on his Truth Social platform, threatening to hit energy and transport infrastructure that critics say would violate international law.
"There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP"
Adding to the pressure, Washington's ally in the war Israel, which attacked a major petrochemicals facility on Saturday, was preparing to attack energy facilities next week and was awaiting U.S. approval, a senior Israeli defence official said.
However, in the sort of mixed messaging that has baffled supporters and foes alike let alone financial markets, Trump told Fox News on Sunday that Iran was negotiating, with a deal possible by Monday.
ISRAEL SAYS IT HELPED THE RESCUE
With the impact from the Strait's closure on the global economy deepening by the day, the rescue of the U.S. airman removed the risk for Trump of a hostage crisis further souring the mood of an American public already sceptical of the war.
A U.S. official said the operation, which Israel said it had assisted, involved dozens of military aircraft and encountered fierce resistance from Iranian forces.
Iran said several U.S. aircraft were destroyed during the operation, including two military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters. Footage posted on social media showed burned-out aircraft wreckage, which Reuters verified was in the area.
The loss of the F-15 last week - as well as an A-10 ground-attack aircraft in a separate incident - underlined the risks still facing U.S. and Israeli aircrew despite Trump's assertions of total control in the skies over Iran.
A U.S. official told Reuters U.S. forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft used in the rescue mission because it had malfunctioned but many details of the operation remained unclear.
The Wall Street Journal reported that two specially equipped MC-130Js aircraft used to carry out covert infiltrations and to remove troops from beyond enemy lines were blown up by U.S. forces after malfunctioning.
A senior administration official in Washington said the rescue had involved a CIA deception campaign spreading word inside Iran that U.S. forces had already found the missing airman and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration out of the country.
While the Iranians were confused and uncertain of what was happening, the missing weapons officer was located inside a mountain crevice and rescued, the official said in a statement.
PEACE EFFORTS FRUITLESS
The war, which opened with U.S. and Israeli air strikes across Iran on Feb. 28, has spread into Lebanon, where Israel has resumed its campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Thousands have died, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, where Israeli airstrikes killed another 11 people on Sunday, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
But efforts brokered by Pakistan to bring the two sides to an agreement have so far been fruitless.
"What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us," Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on X.
Iran has so far shown no signs of complying with Trump's demand to reopen Hormuz despite heavy damage to military and civilian infrastructure in weeks of U.S. and Israeli attacks.
Its chokehold over the narrow shipping lane off its southern coast has given it powerful leverage. Crude prices have surged to a four-year high close to $120 a barrel, squeezing consumers and businesses across the globe.
It has continued to launch missile and drone attacks against Israel and on U.S. allies in the Gulf who are highly vulnerable to attacks on infrastructure like power and water desalination plants.
On Sunday, in response to Israeli attacks on petrochemical sites in Iran, Tehran hit petrochemicals plants in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. They followed similar attacks on oil facilities, a major aluminium plant and petrochemical sites in recent days and Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that more would follow if civilian targets in Iran were hit.
Iran also attacked an Israel-affiliated vessel with a drone in the Strait, setting the ship on fire, state media said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Michael Martina in Washington, Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher in Cairo, Eleanor Whalley and K. Vinaya, Jerusalem bureau and Reuters bureaux worldwide; Writing by James Mackenzie and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, William Mallard and William Maclean)
