Thriller is underway in as according to many reports, the Iranian air defense shot down one and for a few hours now a race has begun to locate the . The matter had been known earlier with
Road race to locate the pilots
According to reports in American and Iranian media, the US has launched a search and rescue operation for the pilots, while the Iranian leadership is making similar efforts, even offering a reward to anyone who locates the pilots.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency claimed the US military was searching for a pilot of a “fighter jet that was attacked by Iranian armed forces this morning”. It had previously released photos purporting to show the wreckage of a downed US jet, although open source analysts believe the aircraft in the images appears to be an F-15. “If you capture the enemy pilots alive and hand them over to the police and armed forces, you will receive a brave reward,” police said, according to a statement read live on television.
The aircraft crashed in southwestern Iran, reports of fighting in the area
According to a police statement carried by Iranian state television, the aircraft was hit while flying over central Iran before it was shot down in the southwestern provinces of Kogiluge and Boger Ahmad. US media claim that the US search and rescue operation is focusing on the province of Khuzestan, near the border with Iraq, in the “heart” of the country’s onshore oil production.
The region’s oil is mainly transported via pipelines to Harg Island, to the southeast. Khuzestan is for the most part a fertile plain with large rivers, and lacks the high mountain ranges characteristic of other parts of Iran. Most of its residents live in the capital Ahvaz, a city of about 1.3 million people, just over an hour’s flight from Tehran.
Iranians are firing small arms at US aircraft searching for the pilots of the US F-15E shot down over Iran.
— Clash Report (@clashreport)
According to the latest information, exchanges of fire and hostilities have broken out in the area between Iranian forces and the American forces participating in the search and rescue operation. There are reports that a helicopter participating in the pilot rescue operation was also hit.
Wild footage of a U.S. Air Force HC-130J “Combat King II” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Aircraft flying low over the countryside of Southern Iran while refueling a pair of MH-60G “Pave Hawk” Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) Helicopters earlier this morning, as the search…
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender)
According to Israeli media, one of the two pilots has been rescued by American forces. The Israeli media reports were recently confirmed by two US officials, denying earlier US reports that the condition of the F-15 pilots was unknown. It is noted that US President Donald Trump has been informed about the incident.
