US officials have said one of the two crew members of a downed warplane in Iran has been rescued, while efforts are underway to find the other. According to US media reports citing unnamed sources, US special forces rescued one of the crew members after the fighter jet, believed to be an F-15E, was shot down over Iran.
Photos and videos circulating on social media showed what appeared to be US helicopters and other aircraft flying at low altitude over the presumed location of the downed fighter jet.
American F-15 crashed in Iran
The F-15 fighter jet was manned by a pilot and a weapons systems officer in the back seat when it went down, the first known loss of an American fighter jet in the ongoing war.
Earlier, Iranian media broadcast footage of the plane wreckage claiming it was an F-35, but according to CNN it was most likely from an F-15.
William Goodhind, a forensic image analyst at Contested Ground, also told Reuters that images of the plane’s tail fin in photos posted on social media matched those of the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Read also | Here’s a look at the US military aircraft lost during Operation Epic Fury
Iran initially claimed to have shot down a US F-35
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency first reported the downing of the jet on Friday, saying Iran had shot down a “highly advanced US fighter jet”.
Later, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also said it had successfully hit a US Air Force F-35 stealth fighter jet in the airspace of central Iran. According to a statement issued by the IRGC, the plane was hit at 2:50 a.m. local time by the IRGC’s advanced modern air defense systems.
“The fate of the fighter is unclear and under investigation, and the probability of its crash is very high,” it said.
The US has not officially acknowledged the loss of its fighter jet in combat, but reports said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the situation.
;Reward’ for the capture of a member of the American crew
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have urged civilians to search for survivors.
The governor of Kohgiluyeh province and Boyer-Ahmad said that anyone who captures or kills the garrison “will be especially praised,” Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
The downing of the US warplane comes a day after Trump posted a video of the destroyed bridge on social media and said there would be “many more to follow” if Iran did not agree to a deal to end the conflict.
Capturing the American garrison could change the war
So far, 13 U.S. service members have been killed and more than 300 wounded in the conflict, according to Central Command. The prospect of US military personnel being captured alive by Iran is even worse news for the Trump administration, as the ongoing war will become even more unpopular with Americans in a key midterm election year.
Read also | US military assets damaged or lost in the Iran war
According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, two-thirds of Americans believe the US should work to quickly end its involvement in the conflict, even if that means falling short of the goals set by the Trump administration.
Key things
- The downing of the F-15 highlights the growing danger facing US military personnel in Iran.
- Public opinion is shifting towards a desire for a quick resolution to the conflict regardless of political goals.
- The incident raises concerns about the potential impact of captured US service members on domestic political sentiment.
