Iranian and American forces were searching Friday for the crew of the first American combat aircraft to crash in Iran since the beginning of the war, shot down according to Tehran by its anti-aircraft defense.
American media reported that one of the two crew members had been rescued.
After a period of silence, the White House only stated that Donald Trump had been “briefed on the loss of the aircraft” which was said to be an F-15E fighter-bomber, according to the New York Times (NYT) among others.
According to a spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces, the aircraft was destroyed by an anti-aircraft defense system of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic. “Additional searches are ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
The NYT and the Washington Post claimed to have authenticated photos and videos, circulating on social media and in Iranian media, showing American helicopters and planes flying at low altitudes in the area.
Efforts to find the second crew member are reportedly underway.
Later in the afternoon, the Iranian state television station in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad region broadcasted images presented as those of the wreckage, promising a “generous reward” to whoever hands over the pilots.
The President of the Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, ridiculed the United States, asking, “Can someone find our pilots? Please?”
Citing two American officials, the NYT then stated that another American combat aircraft had crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, with only one pilot being rescued unharmed.
This incident comes after a month since the start of the American-Israeli offensive on February 28, marking the first significant setback for the American air force, indicating that the Islamic Republic still has anti-aircraft capabilities despite weeks of intense bombings.
According to a Western fighter pilot interviewed by AFP, the first thing to do in case of ejection in hostile territory is to hide and try to signal to fellow combatants.
For this purpose, each pilot wears a combat vest containing a coded radio-GPS beacon to transmit their position.
Since the beginning of the war, no American soldier has been killed or captured on Iranian soil, but 13 military personnel have died in various countries in the region.
The incident follows another day of inflammatory rhetoric and bombings against Iran, with Israel declaring “large-scale strikes” on Tehran.
In parallel, Iranian missiles targeted Israel and Gulf monarchies, responding to attacks and threats from Donald Trump to destroy Iranian infrastructure.
The war has resulted in thousands of deaths, mostly in Iran and Lebanon, where the Israeli army has launched attacks to combat the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement in response to attacks on Israel since March 2.
Israel claims to have struck over 3,500 targets in neighboring countries and killed a thousand fighters. On Friday, its army once again targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Three peacekeepers were also injured in southern Lebanon by an explosion of unknown origin.
On the economic front, the war continues to fuel strong concerns, with Iran’s almost closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing oil prices and other commodities to soar, risking a global inflationary spiral.
Russian and Turkish presidents have called for an immediate ceasefire, citing the energy crisis among reasons.
However, a first European container ship passed through the strait on Thursday, indicating some business continuity despite the conflict.
The Gulf countries have urged the United Nations Security Council to approve a forced liberation of the strait, but the vote was postponed due to lack of consensus.
Donald Trump, who has made conflicting statements about the strait, claimed Friday that with “a little more time,” the United States could “open it” and “seize the oil.”
But the economic impact of the war continues to spread, with Bangladesh reducing office and store hours to save energy, Islamabad discontinuing free public transport for a month due to rising fuel prices, and hundreds of rural fuel stations running dry in Australia at the start of the Easter weekend.
