April 5, 2026

Data Cutoff: 2:00 PM ET

Avery Borens, Nidal Morrison, Ben Rezaei, Adham Fattah, Katherine Wells, and Brian Carter

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US President Donald Trump appears to have extended the deadline for Iran to stop attacking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to 8:00 PM ET on April 7 amid discussions with Iranian officials. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on April 5 that Iran would continue attacking shipping through the Strait, however. Trump had previously set the deadline for Monday, April 6, following a prior extension. Trump threatened to attack energy infrastructure and bridges in the event Iran persists in attacking shipping after his deadline. Mojtaba said on April 5 that Iranian forces would continue to threaten shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on April 5 to discuss Pakistan’s mediation efforts between Iran and the United States. Media readouts did not disclose if Iran agreed to any negotiations, however.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that US forces on April 4 successfully completed the rescue of both F-15E crewmembers after Iran shot down their aircraft on April 2 during a combat mission. CENTCOM had not previously acknowledged the earlier rescue of the F-15E pilot, which occurred on April 3. US special operations forces successfully secured the F-15E weapons system officer (WSO) on April 4. US officials told Western media that the WSO survived after evading capture for 36 hours, but he is seriously wounded and now receiving medical treatment in Kuwait. The rescue operation resulted in an unspecified number of Iranian casualties.US forces destroyed two transport aircraft and multiple MH-6 Little Birds that they could not extract from Iran after the rescue operation. US President Donald Trump stated that the recoveries involved two US “raids” and noted that in the second operation, US forces spent seven hours over Iran. Trump also announced he will hold a press conference in the Oval Office at 1:00 PM ET on April 6.

The Iranian regime media is falsely characterizing the shootdown of the F-15E and subsequent downing of an A-10 attack aircraft during rescue operations as a US defeat. US forces successfully established a makeshift airstrip very close to a major Iranian city, successfully extracted all of its personnel, and the combined force has continued to strike targets in Iran. An Iranian military spokesperson said that Iranian forces ”thwarted” the rescue attempt, even though US forces recovered all personnel in Iran, and all personnel are alive. Iranian regime media argued that US forces would not have struggled to get the MC‑130 aircraft off the ground if Iranian air defense systems had truly been neutralized. The MC-130s were unable to get off the ground because their nose gear got stuck in the sand, not because of any Iranian action.

• US President Donald Trump appears to have extended the deadline for Iran to stop attacking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to 8:00 PM ET on April 7 amid discussions with Iranian officials. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on April 5 that Iran would continue attacking shipping through the Strait, however.

• US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that US forces on April 4 completed the rescue of both F-15E crewmembers after Iran shot down their aircraft on April 2 during a combat mission.

• US forces successfully established a makeshift airstrip very close to a major Iranian city, successfully extracted all of its personnel during the rescue operation, and the combined force has continued to strike targets in Iran.

• The combined force has continued to strike operational components of the program even as it targets production facilities for engines, guidance systems, and other components and research and development facilities, including a missile launcher reportedly for a Haj Qassem missile, which has a maximum range of 1,400 km.

• The IDF is continuing to target Iranian tunnel entrances to prevent Iranian forces from using tunnels to conceal missile sites.

• Iran has slightly altered its strike packages targeting Gulf states to include more cruise missiles, but it is unclear whether this represents experimentation with new tactics, an effort to manage the remaining missile reserves, or something else.

• Hezbollah published footage on April 4 and 5 that Hezbollah claimed shows first-person view (FPV) drone attacks conducted on March 25 against an Israeli vehicle and two Israeli Merkava tanks in southern Lebanon.

• Hezbollah claimed to have launched anti-ship cruise missiles at an Israeli warship located 68 nautical miles off the coast of Lebanon on April 5 for the first time since the start of the war.

• The IDF estimated that Hezbollah can maintain a fire rate of 200 rockets and drone launches per day at Israel for an additional five months. Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks do not appear to be achieving the desired effect of altering Israel’s decision-making in conducting airstrikes against Iran, however.

• Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are attempting to blame Kuwait for attacks on Iraqi oil infrastructure, likely to obfuscate responsibility for these attacks to a domestic Iraqi audience.

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