By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump was on the verge of a crisis in the Iran war,faced with the rare instance of an American airman shot down and stranded deep inside enemy territory.
Then, the airman's daring Easter weekend rescue gave the U.S. president the chance to quickly flip the script.
By David Brunnstrom and John Irish
April 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, but in significantly watered-down form after veto-wielding China opposed authorizing force, diplomats said.
Oil prices have surged since the U.S. and Israel struck Iran at the end of February, unleashing a conflict that has run for more than five weeks and seen Tehran largely close the Strait, a vital energy artery.
US forces carried out a high-risk mission to recover the pilot and weapon systems officer of an F-15 fighter jet -- the first crewed American warplane shot down over Iran in more than five weeks of combat.
President Donald Trump said last week that US-Israeli operations had left Iran with "no anti-aircraft equipment" or radars, but the Islamic republic's forces subsequently shot down the F-15 and heavily damaged another plane during the rescue mission.
President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at NATO allies who did not support the United States in the war in Iran and reiterated his desire to annex Greenland.
Trump's remarks came ahead of a visit by the defense alliance's chief Mark Rutte scheduled for later this week.
"Look, we went to NATO," Trump recalled. "I didn't ask very strongly, I just said, 'Hey, if you want to help, great.'"
"'No, no, no we will not help,'" Trump said he was told, while not saying who he spoke to.
Trump went on to say that NATO members had "actually gone out of their way not to help."
By Nandita Bose and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would demand that the journalist who first reported that an airman in Iran had been rescued reveal how they got that information, and threatened to jail themif they refused.
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters that he thought the Iranian people should rise up against the government in the country if a ceasefire were declared, but understood that it was too dangerous for them to do so.
"Well they should do it but, again, the consequences are great," Trump said during a White House news conference. "I mean, they were told, 'If you protest, you will be shot immediately.'"
By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters that Iran could be taken out in one night, "and that night might be tomorrow night," warning Tehran it had to make a deal by Tuesday night or face wider bombing raids.
Trump had earlier vowed to enforce a Tuesday night deadline for Iran to agree to a ceasefire deal or face broad attacks on power plants and other critical infrastructure. Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz oil transit waterway.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa
CAIRO/GAZA, April 6 (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people and wounded several others outside a school housing displaced Palestinians on Monday, health officials said, in the latest violence overshadowing the fragile U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire deal.
Before the strikes, some Palestinians had clashed with members of an Israeli-backed militia, who they said attacked the school in an attempt to abduct some people, medics and residents said.
ZURICH, April 6 (Reuters) - The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday urged governments to respect the rules of war in word and deed after U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric against Iran by threatening to rain down "hell" on Tehran.
"States must respect and ensure respect for the rules of war in both what they say and what they do," Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement. "The world cannot succumb to a political culture that prioritises death over life."
By Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the Tuesday deadline he has set for Iran to make a deal is final, calling Iran's peace proposal significant but not good enough.
Trump has warned U.S. forces will unleash broad attacks on Iranian infrastructure if his Tuesday night deadline is not met. Iran has rejected Trump's deadline.
"They made a proposal, and it's a significant proposal. It's a significant step. It's not good enough," Trump told reporters during an Easter egg event for children on the White House South Lawn.
