“US Israel Iran War”

While American forces conducted an astonishing rescue of a downed Weapons Systems Officer, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) escalated the stakes against Iran’s leadership yet again, going after the men in charge of Tehran’s oppression and terror organizations.

One of this weekend’s big names is Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, now confirmed dead, who until the moment of his vaporization served as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization. Khademi’s death was confirmed Monday by an IRGC statement carried by the Iranian state Fars news service.

President Trump vowed Monday to catch the “leaker” who revealed that US forces were not immediately able to rescue the second F-15 pilot shot down over Iran — as he retold of the wounded airman’s dramatic weekend rescue.

“We’re looking very hard to find that leaker,” Trump said in the White House briefing room. “They basically said that we have one and there’s somebody missing. Well, [Iran] didn’t know there was somebody missing until this leaker gave the information.”

Iran has rejected a call to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in return for a 45-day ceasefire.

Pakistan presented Tehran and Washington with a peace proposal that would have seen an immediate pause in the conflict and a reopening of the key shipping lane.

While Iran said it was reviewing the framework of the broader agreement, an official insisted that the Strait would not be reopened.

The two-stage proposal came from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators, who were hoping the 45-day window would provide enough time for talks to reach a permanent ceasefire.

Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, was in contact “all night long” with JD Vance, the US vice-president, Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East and Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, sources told Reuters.

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At the start of the attack on Iran in February, President Trump spoke of the “imminent threat” of an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Yet on Wednesday, as he prepared to address America about his rationale for the war, he told interviewers “I don’t care” about the stockpile of highly enriched uranium Iran is known to hold, saying it was too far underground to be a concern and could easily be monitored by satellite.

“If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we will hit them with missiles very hard again,” he said later on television.

US President Donald Trump was swift to declare victory after the second crew member of an F-15 downed over Iran was recovered, claiming on Sunday that the dramatic and successful rescue in Iranian territory “proves, once again, that we have achieved overwhelming air dominance and superiority”.

Observers, however, paint a more complicated picture of what this means for the US in Iran.

While the mission was a success, the events of the last few days – in which two aircraft were downed and at least one helicopter hit by gunfire – highlight that threats to US aircraft and personnel remain even after weeks of heavy US and Israeli strikes against Iran’s military infrastructure and boasts from the president that Tehran had “no anti-aircraft equipment” left.

U.S. forces are taking out attack drones used by the Iranian regime to threaten Americans and indiscriminately target civilians in neighboring countries. pic.twitter.com/T9C2cKFK0V

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 5, 2026

So this is purest speculation on my part. But watching the incredibly complex multi-domain rescue mission this weekend, it suddenly struck me that new, powerful AI might be behind this. Moving all these units into so many places at once, making sure that they have communications organized, fuel, ammunition, food, the right troops with the right transports, and so on is enormously complex. It normally requires the work of hundreds of staffers to do this sort of thing, and that takes time. But it happened awfully fast, and nearly flawlessly.

Hundreds of SEAL Team 6 commandos, fake CIA intel and a battle for survival atop 7,000-foot ridge: Inside the historic US mission to save F-15 airman in Iran

During the rescue of the second F-15E crew member in southwestern Iran (April 3–5, 2026)… U.S. special operations forces were operating deep in hostile territory under real pressure.

The downed airman evaded capture for roughly 48 hours while Iranian forces… including IRGC… pic.twitter.com/z5h2Jt43lX

— A Gene Robinson (@AlGeneRobi96834) April 5, 2026

Like the fighter who distracts his foe with feints before bringing an uppercut that knocks out his opponent, the world has been exclusively focused on Iran shutting the Straits of Hormuz while ignoring the chilling fact that it is a regime of theocratic extremists who have launched ballistic missiles capable of hitting Europe as well as US bases in the Indian Ocean. Iran’s ruling ayatollahs want to put nuclear warheads on those missiles. That is where the real threat lies — not in a Middle East waterway — but in Iran’s missile silos and nuclear weapons program.

How henchmen brainwashed in ‘violent and extremist’ training camps oversee prison rapes and mass executions to maintain Iranian regime’s stranglehold

In countless camps deep in rural Iran, gruff military men bark orders at trembling young cadets.

Boys as young as 13 are put through their paces by uncompromising tutors, who brainwash their pupils into hating all of Iran’s enemies, planting a seed that grows into a fanatical and insular view of the world.

This is the beginning of the journey for the hardened rank and file of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a nursery where teens learn the ropes and become part of a 125,000-strong death cult.

The US has rescued the missing crew member of the US F-15 fighter jet which was shot down on Friday over southern Iran.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the rescue on social media on Sunday morning after the US military “pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations” in its history. The officer is “now SAFE and SOUND!” he added.

Two crew members were on board the jet, and both ejected from the plane. One of them had already been rescued by US forces.

Trump issues expletive-laden social media post

Warning: The below post contains very strong, uncensored language that some may find offensive.

US President Donald Trump has published an expletive-laden post on his Truth Social platform, in which he threatens Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Seriously? The BBC is upset about that?

Speaking with Fox News’ Trey Yingst, President Trump said regarding the ongoing Iran War, “If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil,” adding that he thinks he can make a deal with Iran by Monday. pic.twitter.com/C3e5G2kpmT

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 5, 2026

Even after President Trump’s televised address on Wednesday night, the obtuseness and antagonism of the Napoleonic military geniuses in much of the world’s media think that the Iran War could be a quagmire and stalemate without a formal Iranian surrender. Trump repeated that his objectives are the permanent end of Iran’s nuclear military ambitions and of its support of terrorism in much of the world. In furtherance of that he will strike them “very hard” for another month or so. This can only mean that he will, if necessary use amphibious or airborne forces to take over the distribution of Iran’s oil, while destroying its power grid and closing its ports as tightly as its airspace. This is a logical conclusion of the war, in which the United States has incurred eight fatalities in combat and five others accidentally. Neither this small number nor the material cost of about $50 billion is onerous to the United States.

As Trump’s administration aims to bring ‘warrior culture’ back to the military, young service members express anxiety and snark online over potential deployment

If posts coming from the White House were to be believed, the US-Israel war on Iran looks something like scenes from Top Gun, Braveheart and Deadpool – or how a fifth-grade boy might imagine combat. The Trump administration has also presented Operation Epic Fury as a video game, borrowing gen Z parlance to describe the US armed forces as “locked in” on the conflict.

Such macho posturing squares with secretary of defense Pete Hegseth’s desire to bring “warrior culture” back to the military. The former Fox News host has railed against DEI, “fat troops” and “beardos” (troops with beards), and envisioned a military full of “the right people” who fit his imposed standards of virility and masculinity.

Only at the Guardian!

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said Iran had 48 hours left to make a deal on opening the vital Strait of Hormuz or face “Hell”.

“Remember when I gave Iran 10 days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The waterway is vital to the global oil and gas trade.

Also …

Search for missing US crew member of downed fighter jet enters second day

US search and rescue efforts for the missing second crew member of the downed F-15E fighter jet continued into a second day as Iran came under heavy bombing and Israel extended the war in Lebanon.

A pilot had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war, but the second of the two-strong crew has not been accounted for.

Iranian media released pictures of a wreckage, including a distinctive F-15 tail fin, and a used ejector seat on Friday, with state media and businesses in the country offering a bounty if the missing crew member could be captured

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that family members of the deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani will soon be deported from the United States after he moved to cancel their visas earlier this week.