Iran says US aircraft destroyed during pilot rescue mission

Hossein Samsami, a member of parliament’s Economic Committee, said the Islamic Republic was for now compelled to continue the war and resistance despite the damage already inflicted.

He said Tehran had to keep confronting its adversaries in order to raise the cost of war for them, and added that the United States and Israel, after failing in their initial objectives, were escalating the conflict by targeting economic infrastructure.

Samsami also warned that Iran’s electricity production infrastructure could be targeted if the current course continued.

At least 10 people have been killed so far in attacks on Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, according to local officials.

The head of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences said nine people had been killed in the early Sunday strikes, while the province’s deputy governor said at least 10 people had been killed in three attacks on Dehdasht, the Kakan area and the Vezg area.

The attacks came after Revolutionary Guards ground forces and US search teams backed by air support had been operating in the province since April 3 following reports that two American pilots had gone down there.

The early Sunday strikes coincided with reports that the second pilot had been rescued. Both US pilots have now left Iran alive.

In Ardabil province, the governor’s office said three people were killed and three others wounded in attacks on border areas early on Sunday. Ardabil borders Azerbaijan in northern Iran.

Mizan identified the two as Mohammadamin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast and said their death sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.

State media accused the two men of taking part in the protests in January 2026, entering a military site in Tehran, helping damage and set fire to the facility, and trying to reach its weapons storage area.

The report also said authorities accused a group involved in the case of trying to enter military and security sites, including police stations, Basij bases and other restricted locations, with the aim of stealing weapons and military equipment.

The two were among four defendants in the same case who had faced execution, according to Amnesty International.

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  Two more political prisoners executed in Iran

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  Iran executes protest detainee over Basij base fire case

On Saturday, Iran executed two men, Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amerian, over charges including “armed rebellion,” membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) opposition group and plotting attacks using rocket launchers.

Last week, Iran executed 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, who had been convicted in the same case linked to the nationwide anti-government protests that the Islamic Republic repressed in what became its broadest crackdown to date.

In a recent report, Amnesty said 11 men were at risk of imminent execution over participation in the protests. The rights group said they had been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in detention before being convicted in grossly unfair trials based on forced confessions.

Reports late on Saturday and early on Sunday described explosions and warplane overflights across several Iranian provinces, including Isfahan, Alborz, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Gilan, Mazandaran and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

In Isfahan province, including Isfahan city, Baharestan, Najafabad, Fooladshahr, Mobarakeh and Lenjan, residents reported repeated explosions and shaking buildings, especially in southern parts of the city. Some messages spoke of more than 10 successive blasts.

In Alborz province, four explosions were reported in the Sohailieh area of Karaj. In Hormozgan province, residents in Bandar Lengeh and Kish reported warplane overflights and explosions.

In Khuzestan province, Mahshahr saw three early-morning explosions, while reports from Andimeshk said vehicles carrying equipment had gathered there.

Other reports described a missile launch in Shiraz, warplane overflights in Kangan in Bushehr province, an explosion in Deylaman in Gilan, a missile sighting in Shirgah in Mazandaran, and reported operations around Basht in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

In Tehran, some northern and northeastern areas reported hearing distant explosions.

In a final twist to the US mission to recover a downed Air Force officer in Iran, American forces reportedly blew up two stranded transport planes after they became disabled at a remote base inside the country, The New York Times reported.

According to the report, the two aircraft had been due to carry the rescued officer, the other airman and the commandos involved in the operation to safety.

Commanders instead flew in three replacement planes to extract all US personnel, then destroyed the disabled aircraft rather than risk them falling into Iranian hands.