IRGC warns region will become ‘hell’ for US and Israel if escalation continues, Search for missing US crew member
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 19, 2026. PHOTO: Reuters
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN:
President Donald Trump threatened Iran on Saturday, telling the country’s leaders that “time is running out” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” the president wrote on social media this morning. “Glory be to GOD!”
In response, Iran mocked Trump’s 48?hour ultimatum, with officials deriding what they called his “ultimatum rants,” saying, “Our honest reply to old man’s ultimatum rants now.”
Meanwhile, US search and rescue efforts for the missing second crew member of the downed F-15E fighter jet continued into a second day as Iran came under heavy bombing and Israel extended the war in Lebanon.
A pilot had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US plane to be downed over Iran during the five-week-long war, but the second of the two-strong crew has not been accounted for.
The US air force launched a massive search and rescue effort, using low-flying Pave Hawk helicopters and specialist C-130 Hercules transport.
Also, the United States is preparing to deploy a significant portion of its global stockpile of advanced stealth cruise missiles in the next phase of its military offensive against Iran, according to a Bloomberg report.
Citing a source familiar with the matter, the report said an order was issued in late March to redirect Joint Air?to?Surface Standoff Missiles?Extended Range (JASSM?ER) from US Pacific Command stockpiles to the Middle East.
The move underscores the scale and intensity of the ongoing air campaign, with additional missiles from within the continental United States and other overseas facilities also being rerouted to US Central Command (CENTCOM) bases and RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom.
Each JASSM?ER missile, valued at approximately $1.5?million, is a long?range precision weapon designed to strike heavily defended targets while allowing launch aircraft to remain outside hostile air defence zones.
With a range exceeding 600?miles, the missile is considered a key asset in modern US strike operations due to its stealth capabilities and ability to bypass advanced air defence systems.
Iran’s new air defence system
Iran’s military command said that it had deployed a new air defence system to strike the US jets it had downed on Friday, and promised Tehran would “definitely achieve full control” over its airspace after more than a month of US and Israeli aerial dominance during the war.
Iran said it will grant permission for vessels carrying “essential goods” to pass through the choked Strait of Hormuz, according to state-run Tasnim news agency. But its unclear which items Iran defines as “essential,” or if it will maintain its blockade on vessels from what it deems as hostile nations.
Iran warned the United States and Israel that continued military escalation in the region would have devastating consequences, according to Iranian state media.
Israel is also preparing to attack Iranian energy facilities but is awaiting a green light from the United States, a senior Israeli defence official said on Saturday, adding that any such attacks would likely come within the next week.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said Iraq would be exempt from any restrictions on transit through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian media reported on Saturday, signaling preferential treatment for Baghdad as Tehran tightens control over the strategic waterway.
In a statement on X, Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari said, “We announce that our brotherly country, Iraq, is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed on the Strait of Hormuz. Your struggle against America is worthy of respect, appreciation, and admiration.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel attacked Iran’s petrochemical plants, after Tehran reported that strikes damaged multiple petrochemical companies in southwestern Iran’s Khuzestan Province on Saturday.
“I promised you that we would continue to crush the terrorist regime in Tehran, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said.
Iran’s Mehr News reported that the fire has been “fully contained and extinguished.”
As part of its military campaign, Israel has increasingly targeted centers of Iran’s various industries, including steel plants, cement factories and petrochemical complexes.
Niece of slain IRGC
The niece of Qasem Soleimani, a high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander who was killed by the US in 2020, has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement along with her daughter, with both facing deportation, the State Department announced today.
“While living in the United States, (Hamideh Soleimani Afshar) promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the ‘Great Satan,’ and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization,” the State Department said in a statement, adding that Afshar had been living with her child in Los Angeles.
In a separate post on X, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both Afshar and her daughter had US green cards, which he had since revoked.
“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” Rubio said in his post.
(With input from News Desk)
