ByWASHINGTON — A U.S. fighter jet went down over Iran Friday and one crew member has been rescued, according to several media reports. Iranian state media reported the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was responsible.
The attack marks the first time Iran has shot down U.S. military aircraft since the war’s start. Reuters and the New York Times have cited U.S. officials confirming the incident. Axios has cited two unnamed sources. Sources told news media the aircraft was an F-15.
Another U.S. combat plane went down into the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, and the single pilot was rescued, according to media reports citing U.S. officials. Whether the A-10 Warthog was downed by enemy fire is unclear. The crash occurred roughly around the same time that the F-15 was attacked.
The Pentagon has not responded to States Newsroom’s requests for confirmation of the reports.
A U.S. military search and rescue operation is reportedly underway, according to American officials cited in the Times report and Iranian state media.
U.S. Central Command, which posts about the war every day on social media, had not posted information about the downed jet as of 5 p.m. Eastern.
President Donald Trump has not commented on the incidents. At 3:20 p.m. Eastern, he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?”
The IRGC reportedly downed the jet, which Iranian media said was an F-35, over central Iran and the crew ejected from the plane, according to the Iranian Tasmin News Agency, citing IRGC officials.
Tasmin also claimed U.S. Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 Hercules aircraft were searching for the pilot. A Black Hawk was hit by fire during the rescue operation but was able to remain in flight and land in Iraq, according to the New York Times, citing U.S. and Israeli officials.
Trump vowed to hit Iran ‘extremely hard’
The apparent attack came two days after Trump delivered a formal primetime address telling the nation the U.S. objectives in Iran were “nearing completion” but that American forces would be hitting Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks.
The U.S. entered the joint war with Israel on Feb. 28, killing the country’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and numerous other senior leaders. Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has taken over as the Islamic state’s top cleric, according to Iran’s government, but he has not been seen in public.
The fighting continues to rock global energy markets after Iran’s takeover of the Strait of Hormuz, a major passageway for one-fifth of the world’s petroleum and liquid natural gas supply.
A gallon of gas in the U.S. now costs just above $4 on average, according to AAA, the highest since 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was trading at $109 a barrel as of Friday morning.
The war has taken thousands of civilian lives across the Middle East and injured tens of thousands more. Thirteen U.S. troops have been killed.
Energy and other civilian infrastructure has been badly damaged in Iran and across the region. Trump posted a video on Thursday on Truth Social of U.S. strikes destroying a major bridge connecting the country’s capital Tehran to Karaj.
Trump has repeated several times over the past week that the U.S. will bomb Iran “back to the stone ages.”
