Iran shot down a US F-15E fighter jet, and the US government rescued one of the two crew members, according to a US official.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter was sensitive, said a search and rescue operation was underway to locate the second crew member.
The first confirmed loss of an American fighter jet in combat would mark a significant escalation in the five-week war that has already triggered a global energy crisis.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the incident, the White House said Friday. US Central Command did not respond to a previous request for comment on the downing of the aircraft.
The semi-official Iranian agency Tasnim published a report on Friday claiming that Iran had shot down a “highly advanced American fighter jet”.
Iranian state vehicles have made previous claims of shooting down American aircraft, which the US has denied. On Thursday, the Pentagon’s Central Command classified as false a claim by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it had shot down an enemy fighter over an island in the Strait of Hormuz.
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“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has made the same false claim at least half a dozen times,” the Central Command said in a social media post.
Iran began targeting Arab Gulf countries again until this Friday, hours after Trump made new threats against Iranian infrastructure to pressure Tehran into starting peace talks. On Thursday, the American president published a video of a bridge collapse online and warned that there would be “much more to come!” if Iran did not accept a deal.
Iran maintained its defiant tone. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that attacks on civilian structures “will not force the Iranians to surrender.” So far, there is little sign that the country will give in to US demands to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and stop the attacks, preferring to present its own terms for a deal.
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