Middle East crisis live: US and Iran race to recover missing pilot from downed jet; another ship passes through strait of Hormuz

The search continues for a missing US pilot in Iran after two US warplanes went down in separate incidents.

Iran said it had shot down an F-15 fighter jet over the southwestern part of the country on Friday. It marks the first time a US fighter jet has been shot down in Iran since the war began. US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members and the other was still missing, with a search operation under way. Iranian state media has urged people in the mountainous provinces of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and Khuzestan to search for the jet's crew.

Separately, Iranian state media said a US A-10 ground attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defence forces. A US official told Reuters news agency that it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down. US media reported that the pilot was rescued.

AFP news agency reported a hospital in the southern Lebanese town of Tyre was damaged after an Israeli strike hit nearby buildings.

The Lebanese health ministry said 11 people were wounded in the attack. The director of the Lebanese Italian Hospital told the state-run National News Agency (NNA) that the hospital would “remain open to provide the necessary medical care†despite the damage.

An AFP correspondent on the ground reported seeing strikes destroying two buildings near the hospital. The news agency reported other attacks in the Tyre region today, including one at a port that struck a small boat and damaged others moored nearby.

War returned to Lebanon on 2 March as Israel intensifies its attacks against Hezbollah militants across the southern Lebanese border. The Israel military has advanced through southern Lebanon in recent days, bombing bridges around Tyre, which lies 12 miles north of the Israeli border, and cutting it off from the rest of the country.

More on the reported strike near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it has been informed of the incident, and that no increase in radiation levels was reported.

Earlier, Iranian media reported that one person was killed and a support building near the plant was damaged in the attack, which it blamed on the US and Israel.

In a statement on X, the IAEA said:

The IAEA has been informed by Iran that a projectile struck close to the premises of the Bushehr [nuclear power plant] this morning, the fourth such incident in recent weeks. Iran also informed the IAEA that one of the site's physical protection staff members was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on site was affected by shockwaves and fragments. No increase in radiation levels was reported.

It added that the IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi, expressed “deep concern†over the reported incident, as he noted that auxiliary buildings “may contain vital safety equipmentâ€.

Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has arrived in Qatar, a day after visiting Saudi Arabia for a previously unannounced trip to the Middle East that will also include meetings in the UAE.

The visit is aimed at showing support for Gulf partners facing Iranian attacks and to protect Italy's own energy supplies, a government official said. It is the first trip by an EU leader to the Gulf since the conflict began on 28 February.

Iranian state media has reported explosions at a major petrochemical complex in southwestern Iran, saying it was hit by US-Israeli airstrikes that wounded five people.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several facilities at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Zone in the Khuzestan province were hit by strikes this morning. The Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex that operates within the zone sustained damage, the report added.

The news agency quoted the deputy governor for Khuzestan province, Valiollah Hayati, as saying: “The likelihood of human casualties, including fatalities and injuries, from this attack is very high.â€

Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has been targeted in a US-Israeli attack this morning, with a projectile striking the grounds near the facility, according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

One person was killed and the plant's auxiliary buildings sustained damage, the news agency reported. It added that there was no damage to the main section of the power plant and operations remain unaffected.

The news agency claimed it was the fourth attack on the power plant since the outbreak of war.

The US and Israel have not immediately commented on the claims.

Reuters news agency has reported that five EU finance ministers are calling for a tax on windfall profits of energy companies in reaction to rising fuel prices due to the Middle East war.

In a letter to the EU Commission, seen by Reuters, ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Austria said the measure would “send a clear message that those who profit from the consequences of the war must do their part to ease the burden on the general publicâ€.

Oil and gas prices have spiked since the war against Iran led to the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, prompting governments around the world to declare emergency measures to limit the impact on consumers and the economy.

The Israeli military said it hit air defence sites and missile storage facilities during a wave of airstrikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran yesterday.

Among the targets was a site belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “where missiles intended to strike aircraft were storedâ€, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X.

The US and Israel have been bombing military sites in Iran over the past five weeks to erode Tehran's ability to retaliate, but US intelligence assessments suggest they have yet to achieve that objective. Citing such assessments, the New York Times reported that Iranian operatives have been digging out underground missile bunkers and silos struck by US-Israel strikes and returning them to operation hours after an attack. CNN also reported US sources as saying about a half of Iran's missile launchers are still intact.

The reports contradict remarks by Donald Trump earlier this week, that Iran's “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed†and that the war was “nearing completionâ€.

A second Turkish-owned ship has passed through the strait of Hormuz, Turkey's transport minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said, as more vessels trickle through the narrow waterway.

According to Uraloglu, there were 15 ships Turkish-owned ships in the strait when war broke out, and two of them have left. Speaking to CNN Turk, he said four ships have not requested to leave, two are energy carriers and two are engaged in regional trade.

“We are working in coordination with the ministry of foreign affairs to remove the remaining nine ships,†he said.

It was not clear when the second ship passed through the strait. Uraloglu announced safe passage of the first ship on 13 March after authorities received permission from Iran.

The strait of Hormuz, which carries a fifth of the world's oil, has become a key point of contention in bringing the conflict to an end, with Iranian threats to shipping rendering the waterway effectively shut.

Several vessels, however, have been allowed safe passage through the strait, according to reports, including a container ship owned by the French shipping company CMA CGM, which sailed out of the Gulf yesterday. It is believed to be the first ship owned by a western shipping line to have made safe passage since war began on 28 Feburary.

The Guardian's business reporter, Lauren Almeida, has looked at the number of vessels that have transited the strait so far, and the diplomatic efforts to get the key shipping route reopened. You can read her report here:

Here's a rundown on the latest news from the US-Israel war on Iran to bring you up to speed. It's 10.30am in Tehran, 10am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.

• Iranian and American forces were racing each other early on Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down in Iran since the war began.

• Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane. US media reported American special forces had rescued one of its two crew members and the other was still missing, with a search operation under way. Iran urged people in the rugged south-west to also search for the jet's crew.

• The Iranian military said it also downed a US A-10 ground attack aircraft in the Gulf, with US media saying the pilot was rescued.

• Donald Trump told NBC the F-15 loss would not affect negotiations with Iran: “No, not at all. No, it's war.â€

• Fresh strikes hit Iran, Israel, Lebanon and Gulf countries. The Israeli military said on Saturday it began striking “Hezbollah infrastructure†in Beirut after destroying a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group's reinforcements from crossing. Two loud explosions were heard in the capital within half an hour early on Saturday. Israel said it also launched a wave of strikes of Tehran.

• The three UN peacekeepers wounded in a blast in southern Lebanon on Friday were from Indonesia, UN officials said – the third such incident in a week. It came just days after three other Indonesians were killed in separate explosions.

• A fire was reported after a drone hit storage facilities belonging to foreign oil companies west of Iraq's southern port city of Basra, Reuters cited security sources as saying.

• Recent US intelligence reports say Iran is unlikely to open the strait of Hormuz any time soon because its grip on the world's most vital oil artery provides the only real leverage it has over the US, Reuters reported, citing three sources.

• Israeli fire killed a man in Syria's Quneitra province in the south near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Syrian state media said. The man was killed by “an Israeli tankâ€, the Sana agency said, while state TV said a car was targeted.

• An Egyptian national was killed and four others wounded after a fire at a gas complex in Abu Dhabi, caused by falling debris from an intercepted attack, the government media office said.

• Israel's emergency service said a 45-year-old man was treated for minor injuries after Iran fired missiles at the central city of Bnei Brak on Saturday.

• Iran executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and carrying out disruptive actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic, the judiciary said.

• Dubai authorities said they responded to a “minor incident†caused by debris from an aerial interception falling on to the facade of the Oracle building in Dubai Internet City. No injuries were reported, the city's media office said.

• Trump asked US lawmakers to approve a $1.5tn defence budget for 2027, which would lift Pentagon spending by more than 40% in a single year – the sharpest increase since the second world war.

Here are some images coming in from around the Middle East as the war enters week six.

The three United Nations peacekeepers wounded in a blast in southern Lebanon on Friday were from Indonesia, UN officials said, just days after three other Indonesians were killed in separate explosions.

The UN interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) said the blast occurred inside a UN facility near El Adeisse on Friday afternoon, injuring three peacekeepers who were rushed to a hospital. Two were seriously wounded.

The UN information centre in Jakarta said the “origin of the explosion†was unknown but identified the wounded peacekeepers as Indonesian, Agence France-Presse is reporting.

Friday's incident came just days after an Indonesian peacekeeper died when a projectile exploded on 29 March in southern Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah are fighting.

AFP quoted a UN security source as claiming on condition of anonymity on Tuesday that fire from an Israeli tank was responsible.

A day later, two more Indonesian peacekeepers died after an explosion struck a Unifil logistics convoy, also in southern Lebanon.

The bodies of the three fallen peacekeepers are scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Saturday evening, according to the military.