A US fighter jet has been shot down by Iran, Axios reported, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the incident alongside Iranian media. Following reports that rescue teams are actively working to locate the two crew members aboard, a source familiar with the incident told Israel Hayom that one of them has been found.
The downing marks the first occasion on which an American warplane was destroyed by enemy fire since the onset of hostilities. Neither the Pentagon nor the White House had issued any statement in response to media inquiries at the time of reporting.
Video: Unverified footage allegedly showing US aircraft over Iran during a rescue attempt. Credit: Iranian media
AFP's correspondent in Tehran reported that a state-run channel in southwestern Iran broadcast an unusual police appeal to nomadic tribes in the area, urging them to direct Iranian forces toward the pilots before American rescue teams could reach them.
Meanwhile, videos circulating on social media showed Hercules transport aircraft, Black Hawk helicopters, and American drones over southwestern Iran as part of the frantic search effort. According to The New York Times, US Central Command (CENTCOM) maintains dedicated rescue forces at bases in Iraq and Syria, though the operation is considered particularly hazardous given the threat posed by Iranian air defenses.
Iranian state television also urged civilians to join the search for the crew, promising a government reward to anyone who locates them.
Iranian state media circulated photographs and video footage on Friday that purportedly capture debris from the downed aircraft – including one of its ejection seats. Although initial reports claimed the aircraft was an F-35, military aviation experts who examined images of the debris concluded that the wreckage belongs to an F-15E, not an F-35.
The military news site The War Zone and the aviation publication The Aviationist identified the insignia of the US Air Forces in Europe on the tail section, along with a red stripe associated with the 494th Fighter Squadron – based at RAF Lakenheath in Britain and currently deployed in the Middle East. CNN reached the same conclusion.
The Tasnim news agency, which is closely affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, reported that at least one of the pilots apparently ejected and was captured by Iranian forces following a failed American rescue attempt. The agency also published an image of an ejection seat, though neither the report nor the image has been independently verified. The account contradicts a separate statement by the Revolutionary Guards themselves, in which they said the massive explosion at the moment of impact made survival unlikely.
Tasnim also released footage purportedly showing transport aircraft and helicopters flying over Iranian territory, which the agency said belonged to US forces attempting to recover the pilot. The authenticity of the footage has not been independently verified.
The US Central Command has, on previous occasions, denied Iranian claims regarding the downing of fighter jets, but has so far not commented on the incident. If an American aircraft was indeed hit and brought down, it would be the fourth of its kind lost by the US Air Force since the start of the operation.
