Iran-US war latest: Urgent search for missing American pilot as Tehran claims to have downed second plane – UK Times

The ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee has warned that if Iran has captured a US service member, it would fundamentally alter the course of the war and any potential negotiations.

“If the Iranians have an American service member hostage, that totally changes the negotiations. It gives them a leverage point and makes it more difficult to resolve this conflict,” Representative Adam Smith told CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront.

Mr Smith, who said he opposed the war from the start, warned the asymmetry of the conflict was a fundamental problem. “All Iran has to have is a few missiles, a few drones, and enough resources to continue to support their proxies in order to survive,” he said. “That’s why I thought this war was a mistake in the first place.”

He also questioned what a negotiated settlement would look like, saying there was “no evidence” Iran was begging for a deal despite Mr Trump’s claims, and flagged rumours that vice president JD Vance was trying to negotiate a brief ceasefire “but on what terms?”

The Israeli military said this morning it had begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Beirut, as it also claimed to hit a launcher in southern Lebanon used to fire rockets toward northern Israel earlier in the evening.

The IDF said a Hezbollah rocket had struck a UN peacekeeping position in the Al-Adaysa area of southern Lebanon, injuring three UNIFIL personnel, two of them seriously. “The terrorist organization Hezbollah continues to operate while endangering international forces and harming UN personnel,” the military said.

A US congressman has accused the Pentagon of blocking Congress from receiving information about a downed US aircraft and a missing service member in Iran, saying lawmakers have been left relying on public news reports.

“The Pentagon and Trump have made a decision not to keep the House of Representatives and the Senate informed about what’s going on,” Representative John Garamendi told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “Basically they’ve stonewalled us.”

Mr Garamendi said Congress had received “virtually nothing” from the Pentagon about the incident. “We reached out to our professional staff on the committee, and they’ve not heard anything other than the normal reporting,” he said.

He added that his thoughts were with the missing airman and those involved in the rescue operation. “It’s very, very dangerous, not only for the airman that’s been shot down, but also for those that are risking their life to try to rescue that individual.”

Dubai authorities say no fire or injuries were reported after debris fell on the facade of a building in the city’s Marina area following an aerial interception, the emirate’s media office just said.

John Bolton, former national security adviser to Donald Trump, has said the US president is in “panic mode” after the downing of a US fighter jet over Iran leaves one service member missing.

“Why do you think the president hasn’t spoken about this on camera today?” CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Bolton, who has emerged as a critic of Trump.

Bolton responded: “He’s probably back in panic mode, wishing he could find a way to declare victory and get out of this war”.

Trump did give two brief phone interviews today, including one to The Independent, in which he wouldn’t comment on what the US will do if the missing service member is captured or harmed.

“I can’t comment on it because — we hope that’s not going to happen”, he said.

An Iranian strike on the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia on March 3 caused more damage than previously disclosed, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The strike did heavy damage to three floors of the embassy, current and former US officials said in the report.

The Central Intelligence Agency station on the compound was hit in the attack, according to people familiar with the matter.

US Senator John Curtis, a Utah Republican, has said he will not support further attacks on Iran without a formal declaration of war.

“I stand by the President’s actions taken in defense of our national security interests in the Middle East. But we must be clear-eyed about history and the Constitution.

“While I support maintaining our readiness and replenishing stockpiles, I cannot support funding for further military operations without a formal declaration of war from Congress”, Curtis wrote on X Friday.

He further wrote in a Desert News op-ed that he will not support military action in Iran after 60 days without congressional approval. It’s been about five weeks since the US and Israel began launching strikes against Iran.

The hundreds of attacks across 13 provinces have resulted in at least one death, according to HRANA.