Iran says it hit Israeli ship at UAE’s Jebel Ali port

US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Axios that the United States initially worried that a message from the stranded crew member of the F-15 downed by Iran may have been part of a trick set by Iranian forces to lure US forces into a trap.

He said the crew member survived more than 24 hours in mountainous terrain before being rescued in a special forces mission involving around 200 troops.

“Thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” Trump said, referring to Iranian forces, adding that US officials later confirmed the airman was alive and not in captivity.

Trump also said Iran had shot down the aircraft with a shoulder-fired missile and that Israel helped “a little bit” during the rescue effort.

US President Donald Trump said he believes a deal with Iran could be reached by Monday and that negotiations are ongoing, in an interview with Fox News.

Trump added that he will take Iran’s oil if the Islamic Republic is unwilling to reach an agreement with the United States.

"If they don't make a deal and fast, I'm considering blowing everything up and taking over the oil", he said.

Israel’s military said it killed Mohammadreza Ashrafi, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official responsible for commercial affairs at its oil headquarters, in a strike in the Tehran on Friday.

"Ashrafi oversaw the commercial operations of the oil headquarters, activities worth billions of dollars annually that help expand the IRGC’s military capabilities and those of Iran’s proxy forces across the Middle East, including the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas," the military said in a statement

The strike follows the earlier killing of Jamshid Eshaghi, commander of the armed forces’ oil headquarters, the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated US President Donald Trump on Sunday over the rescue of an American pilot, praising the operation as a “remarkable” success.

“All Israelis rejoice in this remarkable operation. It proves that when free societies act with courage and determination, they can overcome the forces of darkness and terror,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.

“This operation reinforces a sacred principle: no one is left behind,” Netanyahu said.

“We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 crew member from deep inside the mountains of Iran,” US President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, adding that the operation involved two raids and lasted several hours.

“The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight… spending seven hours over Iran,” Trump said.

He said he would hold a news conference with military officials at the Oval Office on Monday at 1:00 p.m.