Israel has reportedly suspended planned airstrikes on strategic targets inside Iran to allow U.S. forces to proceed with a full-scale search and rescue mission for a missing crew member of a downed F-15E Strike Eagle.

The decision is said to be aimed at preventing further airspace conflict, ensuring safer conditions for ongoing U.S. Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) operations. The aircraft was previously reported shot down over Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.

Sources indicate that while one pilot has already been safely recovered by U.S. special operations forces, the second crew member believed to be a Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) remains missing in a remote mountainous area. Contact has reportedly been established, but precise coordinates are still unknown.

Israel is also said to be providing intelligence support, including satellite imagery, to assist in locating the missing personnel. The effort is unfolding under time pressure, amid reports that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is attempting to mobilize local networks to locate the individual.

Despite the temporary pause in Israeli strikes, U.S. carrier strike groups in the region remain on high alert, with the capability to rapidly resume offensive operations if the situation escalates or if the missing crew member is captured.