In brief
- A United States fighter jet has been shot down in Iran, with one crew member rescued.
- It is the first aircraft downed since the war in the Middle East began nearly five weeks ago.
In a significant escalation of tensions, Iran announced that it had downed two U.S. military aircraft in separate incidents on Friday, local time. This dramatic development has occurred nearly five weeks into the ongoing conflict, with one American service member reportedly rescued while another remains unaccounted for.
Just days earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a national address, declaring that the United States had “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” He further asserted that the U.S. was committed to “finishing the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast,” highlighting the administration’s aggressive stance.
According to U.S. officials, an F-15 Strike Eagle was shot down over Iranian territory. The incident resulted in the rescue of one crew member, while another is still missing. A U.S. military search-and-rescue mission is currently underway to locate the missing service member.
NBC News reported additional complications during the rescue efforts, as U.S. helicopters involved in the mission came under Iranian fire. Despite this, all personnel aboard the helicopters have been confirmed safe, as per a U.S. official cited by the news outlet.
Separately, Iranian state media said a US A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defence forces.
A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said earlier that it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down or whether Iran was involved. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it went down was immediately known.
Neither the White House nor Pentagon released public information about the downed planes. In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search-and-rescue efforts but said what happened would not affect negotiations with Iran.
“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he said.
Those incidents came as Iran fired on targets across the Middle East on Friday, keeping the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbours despite US and Israeli insistence that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed.
Downed jet could mark a new level of pressure on the US
Before word of the rescue, social media footage showed US drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television had said earlier Friday that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.
An anchor had urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward.
It was the first time the US has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the conflict and could mark a new level of pressure being placed on the US military.
Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true. Friday was the first time that Iran went on television, urging the public to look for a downed pilot.
Iranian state media said in a post on X that Iran’s military shot down a US F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a two-person crew consisting of a pilot and weapons system officer.
Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.
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