An Israeli F-35 jet has reportedly downed an Iranian fighter aircraft in Tehran’s airspace.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced today that one of their ‘Adir’ F-35i jets successfully engaged and shot down a piloted Iranian YAK-130 fighter jet.
This incident marks the first recorded dogfight in the current Middle Eastern conflict and is notably the first instance of an F-35 shooting down a manned aircraft, according to the IDF.
Additionally, it is believed to be Israel’s first air-to-air combat victory in nearly 40 years.
The last such encounter occurred in 1985, when an Israeli F-15 intercepted and destroyed two Syrian MiG-23s over Lebanon during the ‘War of the Camps.’
As of now, Iran has not officially acknowledged the loss of its aircraft.
On the fifth day of the war with Iran, the US and Israel hit Tehran and other cities with multiple airstrikes.
Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts, and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the centre of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted.
An Israeli F-35 today shot down a manned Iranian fighter jet in the skies over Tehran (File image of an F-35)
The tempo of the strikes on Iran was reportedly so intense that authorities postponed the mourning ceremony for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the conflict.
Iran today claimed that the death toll from the US-Israeli attacks have so far killed 1,045. The Daily Mail has been unable to independently verify this figure.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said NATO defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey’s airspace.
And an Iranian naval frigate was reported in distress off the coast of Sri Lanka, prompting authorities there to respond and rescue 32 people.
It was not immediately clear what happened to the ship, which Sri Lankan authorities identified as the IRIS Dena, and is armed with heavy guns, surface-to-air missiles, anti-ship missiles and torpedoes and can carry a helicopter.
The US military said earlier it had already destroyed 17 Iranian vessels and that its goal was sinking ‘the entire navy.’
With Iran’s stranglehold on tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which about a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped, Brent crude prices hit $84 a barrel, up more than 15% since the start of the conflict and at its highest price since July 2024.
Global stock markets have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy and sap corporate profits.
Iran has also attacked regional infrastructure. Saudi Arabia said Wednesday its Ras Tanura oil refinery, one of the world’s largest, was again targeted after an unsuccessful drone attack on it earlier in the week.
The kingdom’s oil ministry said the latest attack did not cause any damage and supplies were not affected.
The American Embassy in Saudi Arabia and the US Consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks Tuesday, and the US State Department said Wednesday it had authorised non-emergency government personnel to evacuate the kingdom.
US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, said Iran has launched more than 500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 drones so far.
‘We’ve already struck nearly 2,000 targets, with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran’s air defences and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,’ Cooper said in a prerecorded message shared online Wednesday.
Rubble surrounds the site of a police facility, struck days earlier, during the US-Israeli military campaign on March 4, 2026 in Tehran, Iran
F-35i planes became operational in the Israeli Air Force in 2017.
By 2023, Israel had ordered a total of 75 of the fighter jets from American defence firm Lockheed Martin, with 36 being delivered as of November 2022.
Israel chose to buy F-35A planes, before specially modifying them for their own purposes and renaming them, with the ‘i’ reflecting the nation these planes are defending.
The ‘Adir’ moniker, meanwhile, comes from the Hebrew word for ‘Mighty One.’
The Israeli F-35is have new air-to-air missiles and guided bombs in the internal weapon bays, as well as an external jamming device that can disrupt enemy signals.
Before modification, F-35As typically have a length of 51ft and a wingspan of 35ft. The planes have a top speed of Mach 1.6, or 1,228mph, at high altitude – where the air is thinner and easier to fly through.
On air-to-air configurations, F-35As have a combat range of 870 miles.
And on top of the bombs and missiles they can carry, the planes are armed with one 22mm rotary cannon, which can typically carry up to 180 rounds.
The Yak-130, meanwhile, is a Russian designed warplane. First entering service in 2010, it typically performs light-attack and reconnaissance duties while carrying up to 6,600lbs of armaments.
Fire and smoke rise in the Fujairah oil industry zone, caused by debris after interception of a drone by air defences, according to the Fujairah media office, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, March 4, 2026
The two-man Russian warplane has a length of 37ft and a wingspan of 32ft. It can reach up to 66mph, and has a typical range of 1,300 miles.
Along with its ability to carry rockets, missiles and bombs, it is armed with a gun-pod that needs to be manned by a second member of crew.
Just a few days prior to the outbreak of war, amid rising tensions between Iran, Israel and the US, the nation’s air force carried out a demonstration showing the YAK-130’s capabilities.
Footage showed a pilot striking an aerial target during military drills.
