NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. fighter jet has been shot down over Iran, prompting American forces to launch urgent search and rescue operations to locate the crew.
US sources have reported on the same confirming Iranian state media reports.
Further reports indicate that while rescue efforts are underway, the search for any missing crew had “so far been unsuccessful.”
It remains unclear where in Iran the jet went down however, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the US President Donald Trump has been briefed.
The US military and the White House have not commented on the situation or the status of the crew.
Video geolocated by various US media houses showed multiple low flying military aircraft over Khuzestan Province in central Iran as part of an apparent search and rescue operation.
In the video, one airplane can be seen flying low over the ground while two helicopters follow closely behind, a formation that is consistent with an air-to-air refueling operation.
The incident marks the first time a US aircraft has been shot down over Iran during the conflict.
Near the beginning of the war, three F-15s were mistakenly shot down in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti air defenses.
It comes as Trump administration officials have made repeated claims that the war is essentially won, and that the US has air superiority over the country.
Last month, President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that the US has “won this, because this war has been won, the only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news.”
“We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can’t do a thing about it,” Trump said.
Iranian state media released photos on Friday of what it claimed was the wreckage of a US fighter jet, showing small pieces of what appears to be an F-15.
The photos show a partial logo for “US Air Forces in Europe” on a F-15 tail fin and red-and-white striping from the top of the tail fin.
This comes after Trump indicated the US could exit the conflict quickly but return for targeted “spot hits” if necessary.
Trump said the US had already achieved a key objective—crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
“They won’t have a nuclear weapon… I’ll leave, and if we have to, we’ll come back,” he said while speaking to Reuters.
He, however, declined to give an exact timeline but suggested a withdrawal could happen within weeks.
