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Liu Zhen

Victoria Bela

One crew member from a US fighter jet shot down over Iran has been rescued by US forces, multiple news outlets reported on Friday, citing two US officials, while a second crew member remains missing.
A separate US aircraft was also hit near the Strait of Hormuz, though its pilot was rescued safely, according to the reports.
Iran claimed on Friday to have shot down the American jet, releasing photos of apparent wreckage of an F-15E.
The United States reportedly launched a search-and-rescue operation for the crew, with Israel reportedly providing intelligence to help locate the downed personnel.
The US military did not immediately confirm or deny the reports.
A second US combat plane, an A-10 Warthog, also went down near the Strait of Hormuz, and the pilot was rescued safely, according to separate reports from The New York Times and Iranian state media.


If confirmed, the F-15E incident would be the first time a US fighter jet has been shot down in combat during the war with Iran since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28.
The Iranian armed forces initially claimed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ air defence system brought down an F-35.
However, the pictures from the crash site show debris belonging to an F-15E, with distinctive signs identified as aircraft assigned to the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England, according to military website The War Zone.
This unit has been deployed to the US Central Command for Operation Epic Fury.
If the plane involved was indeed a twin-seat F-15E, that would suggest there were two crew members on board. Two US officials told multiple news outlets that one of them had been rescued, though the other was still missing.
Iranian media also shared images appearing to show American aircraft, including helicopters, transport planes and drones, flying over the country’s rural province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, about 500km (310 miles) southwest of Tehran and over 200km east of the border with Iraq.
Unverified photos posted online showed a US HC-130 search-and-rescue aircraft and an HH-60G helicopter in flight, while open-source flight tracking data indicated that a US KC-46 aerial refuelling tanker loitered over the Persian Gulf for an extended period.
The Iranian authorities had urged the nomadic people and villagers living in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province to cooperate with the military and local police in the manhunt by handing over downed American pilots alive to security agencies to “receive a precious prize”, Associated Press reported.
If Iran were to find the missing pilot alive before the US rescue teams, it would “definitely” exert enormous pressure and have serious consequences for the Trump administration, much like the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, according to Chinese military observer Song Zhongping.
However, the downing of the plane itself was “not surprising”, Song said. “War is inherently a game of consumption of weapons and equipment. Any hardware should be treated as expendable.”
On Friday, US President Donald Trump told British newspaper The Independent that he was not ready to say what the US would do if Iran were to find the downed pilot first. “We hope that’s not going to happen,” Trump was quoted as saying.


Chinese military analyst Fu Qianshao said that so far Operation Epic Fury had demonstrated the clear strengths of the US military, including surprise attacks and precision decapitation strikes. However, he added, the operation also exposed a critical vulnerability: poor defensive capacity.
“The US bases deployed across the Middle East have essentially all come under attack, and the aircraft carrier has been forced to withdraw 1,000km,” the former Chinese air force officer said.
“This shows that while the US possesses formidable offensive capabilities, its defensive capability remains insufficient.”
According to Brigadier General Alireza Elhami, commander of the Iran Air Defence Force, the loss of the US aircraft was the result of innovations in Iran’s air defence systems and tactics and the use of modern equipment.
Together, these factors caused “confusion” for the US forces, various Iranian news sources reported, citing state-affiliated IRNA news agency.
The US has lost several other aircraft during the conflict – three F-15Es were downed in a friendly fire incident in Kuwait on March 2, and a US Air Force KC-153 Stratotanker refuelling aircraft crashed in Iraq on March 12.
As of Friday, 365 US troops had been wounded in action since the start of the conflict, according to the Pentagon. The death toll stands at 13, with seven being hostile deaths.
During a national address on Wednesday, Trump said the core US military objectives in Operation Epic Fury were “nearing completion”.
When asked by NBC News whether the events on Friday would affect negotiations with Iran to end the war, Trump said: “No, it’s a war. We’re in war.”
The Israel Defence Forces said its air force hit missile storage facilities and air defence sites in Tehran on Friday, including sites storing anti-aircraft missiles.
On Saturday, a projectile hit the perimeter of Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, damaging an auxiliary building and killing one security guard, according to a social media post by Iran’s atomic agency. The agency said the main sections of the power plant were not damaged.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said this was the fourth such incident in recent weeks, adding that no increase in radiation levels had been reported.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy in Israel has warned its citizens about the risk of further escalation in the region, urging them to stay away from important infrastructure such as airports and military-sensitive institutions.
“On April 7, our embassy will organise another batch of Chinese citizens – including compatriots from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan – to be transferred and evacuated through the Taba border crossing,” the embassy said on Saturday.
Additional reporting by Dannie Peng


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An F-15E Strike Eagle takes off for a combat flight during Operation Epic Fury, on March 16, 2026. Photo: Handout

Iran says shot down F-35 fighter jet with new defence system

A US F-35C Lightning II landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln on March 7. Photo: US Navy via Reuters

UK rushes air defence systems to Gulf to help counter Iran attacks

Crew members board the HMS Dragon in Portsmouth Harbour on March 4. The British warship has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean to defend Cyprus. Photo: Reuters

Crew members check equipment on the bridge of the British warship, HMS Dragon. Photo: AFP

Smoke rises from a high-rise building in Kuwait City following a drone attack on March 8. Photo: AFP

Pakistan eyes Gulf investment, defence deals in return for playing peacemaker in Iran war

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Army Chief Asim Munir (right) meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on September 26, 2025. Photo: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office/AFP

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud (left) and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif meet at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on Sunday. Photo: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/ Reuters

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) greets his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Beijing on Tuesday. Photo: Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP

Activists protest in Lahore on January 19, 2024, after Iran launched an air strike in Pakistan’s southwest Baluchistan province. Photo: AFP

Shiite Muslims hurl back tear gas shell fired by police to stop them from marching towards the US embassy in Islamabad on March 1. Photo: AP

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US launches rescue mission after F-15E downing; one crew member found, another missing in first such combat loss since war began


US launches rescue mission after F-15E downing; one crew member found, another missing in first such combat loss since war began.


How 2 downed jets show a critical vulnerability for the US as Iran war rages on

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US launches rescue mission after F-15E downing; one crew member found, another missing in first such combat loss since war began

US launches rescue mission after F-15E downing; one crew member found, another missing in first such combat loss since war began