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Trump issues fiery new threat against Iran as details of US aviator's rescue emerge

MATTHEW LEE, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, SAM METZ and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press
Apr 5, 2026
Apr 5, 2026 Updated 2 hrs ago
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A woman holds a poster depicting the late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during a pro-government gathering Sunday in Tehran, Iran.

Francisco Seco, Associated Press

Black smoke rises at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site where an American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation were shot down in Isfahan province.

Sepahnews

Israeli security forces and rescue teams work amid the rubble of a residential building struck by an Iranian missile Sunday in Haifa, Israel.

Ariel Schalit, Associated Press

In this image provided by Sepahnews, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's official website, wreckage is shown at what Iran's state TV claimed was the site of a downed American transport plane and two helicopters involved in a rescue operation in Isfahan province.

Sepahnews

A woman walks past a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday in downtown Tehran, Iran.

Vahid Salemi, Associated Press

Yemeni soldiers patrol the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Sunday in Yemen.

Abdulnasser Alseddik, Associated Press

Iran's Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, talks with an Associated Press reporter Sunday in Tehran, Iran.

Francisco Seco, Associated Press

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MATTHEW LEE, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN, SAM METZ and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday made expletive-filled threats against Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline, after American forces rescued a wounded aviator whose Iran-downed plane fell behind enemy lines.

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