Iran shot down a U.S. F-15E fighter jet and a search and rescue operation is underway for two crew members, a U.S. official said, according to Bloomberg, adding that it would be the first combat loss of a U.S. fighter jet in the five-week conflict, a major escalation in a war that has already sparked a global energy crisis.
The New York Times, which first reported the downing of the fighter jet, said the condition of the crew remained unknown.
“Military forces have launched a search operation to find the American fighter pilot who was shot down today,” Iran’s Fars news agency confirmed.
Iran’s state media IRIB published a map of the country marking the area where the two American pilots have been chasing since morning.
A local television station broadcast footage it claimed showed the wreckage of the downed US jet, AFP reported. Citing a police statement, the station said the plane was targeted over central Iran and may have crashed in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces. The statement called on residents in the area to help find the pilot or pilots and to offer a reward for the capture of any US troops.
Neither the U.S. Central Command nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
Similar claims have previously been refuted by the US
On Friday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency claimed the country had shot down a “highly advanced US fighter jet”.
Iran’s state media has previously made similar claims about the downing of American planes, which the US has denied. Central Command on Thursday rejected claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it shot down an enemy fighter jet over an island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Central Command took to social media and said: “The Iranian IRGC has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times.”
Iran is targeting sites in the Persian Gulf
Iran continued to target sites in the Arab Gulf states on Friday, just hours after President Donald Trump issued fresh threats against Iranian infrastructure to bring Tehran to peace talks. On Thursday, the US president shared a video of the bridge collapse on social media and warned that “many more will follow! if Iran fails to negotiate.”
Iran remained adamant, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declaring that attacks on civilian infrastructure “will not force the Iranians to surrender”.
Strikes in Iran
Meanwhile, US and Israeli fighter jets carried out strikes on Friday afternoon at several strategic and civilian sites in the Iranian capital, including Shahid Beheshti University, one of the country’s leading academic institutions, according to Iranian state media.
IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) reported that the airstrikes targeted Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran’s Velenjak district in northern Tehran, as well as Mehrabad International Airport in the western part of the city, damaging infrastructure and university facilities. Independent verification of casualties or the full extent of damage was not available at the time of writing.
Since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched a large-scale joint offensive against Iran, the conflict has spread across the Persian Gulf region following Iranian retaliatory strikes.
