President Donald Trump made an error, pointed out by several social media, in his latest warning to Iran. On Saturday, the 79-year-old said that Tehran had 48 hours left to cut a deal or face ‘all Hell’ as US and Iranian forces scrambled to find a downed American airman.
Trump’s threat came after an Iranian nuclear power plant was struck, and Tehran announced fresh attacks in the Middle East. The IRGC said they hit a commercial ship in Bahrain allegedly linked to Israel.
Trump’s ‘48 hours’ warning
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.”
However, his his message, the president misspelled reign. He wanted to go with rain.
Iran shot down an F-15
This comes a day after Iran said that it had shot down an F-15 warplane. Several American media outlets cited sources to report that one of the two members on the plane had been rescued. The other one is 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 on Saturday 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”.
President Trump in an interview with NBC News declined to discuss ongoing search-and rescue efforts. He said that the events would not impact negotiations with Iran, according to a reporter who spoke to him in a call.
“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” Trump said, according to the report.
Iran mocks Trump
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, mocked the Trump administration, saying the “war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots?'”
“What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.”
Second US Air Force plane crashed
The New York Times cited sources to state that a second Air Force plane crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Friday, The A-10 Warthog went down near the Strait of Hormuz around the same time that Iran shot down a US F-15E fighter jet, the Times said, citing US officials. The lone pilot was safely rescued.
(With inputs from AFP)
