Tensions between the United States and Iran have intensified as both sides exchanged warnings of devastating retaliation, while military personnel continue searching for a missing American crew member after a US fighter jet was shot down over Iran.
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US President Donald Trump warned that “all hell” would be unleashed if Tehran failed to reach an agreement with Washington, drawing a similarly stark response from Iranian officials.
The exchange comes amid continued military strikes and missile attacks across the region, raising fears of a widening conflict.
Escalating rhetoric and ongoing strikes
Posting on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that “all hell will reign down” on Iran if it did not reach a deal within 48 hours or reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian military officials responded with their own warning. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the entire region would become “hell” if the United States and Israel continued escalating the confrontation.
“If hostility escalates, the entire region will turn into hell for you,” he said, adding that attempts to defeat the Islamic Republic would lead to a prolonged and difficult conflict.
Fighting continued on Saturday, with US and Israeli forces carrying out strikes against Iranian military, industrial and energy facilities. Iran, in turn, launched missiles targeting Gulf states, Iraq and Israel.
Some of the intercepted missiles fell as debris, causing damage in several areas.
Trump also shared what he described as footage of a “massive strike” on Tehran. However, the video appeared to have been recorded roughly a day earlier.
In the same post, he claimed that several Iranian military leaders had been “terminated” in the attack, though Washington has not released details and Iranian authorities have not publicly addressed the claim.
Downed aircraft and search for crew member
The latest escalation follows the downing of a US McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter jet over southern Iran on Friday.
According to US media reports, the pilot survived and has been rescued. However, a second American crew member remains missing.
Iranian authorities have urged citizens to help locate the missing airman “alive” and have offered a reward for information leading to his capture.
US forces launched a search-and-rescue operation that involved a Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, commonly known as the A-10 Warthog. The aircraft was shot and damaged during the mission, though its pilot was safely recovered.
Strikes near nuclear and industrial sites
Iranian state media reported that a major petrochemical complex in the southwestern city of Mahshahr had been struck earlier on Saturday.
Officials said five people were killed and about 170 injured. Israel said the facility had been used to produce materials linked to explosives and weapons.
Iran also reported that the area around the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant had come under attack for the fourth time since the conflict began. One employee at the plant was killed.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation blamed the United States and Israel for the strike, though neither country has confirmed involvement.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed of the incident and expressed “deep concern”, while adding that no rise in radiation levels had been detected.
The agency stressed that nuclear facilities “must never be attacked” and urged all sides to show maximum restraint to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.
The Bushehr facility, Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant, was completed with assistance from Russia. Moscow has begun evacuating personnel from the site, according to the head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev.
Conflict following nuclear tensions
The war between the United States, Israel and Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran in Geneva.
Iran’s nuclear programme has long been the focus of international disputes and sanctions, and the latest hostilities have further complicated efforts to revive diplomacy.
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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 5 April 2026
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