Iran responded with waves of missile and drone attacks against Israeli and American bases and assets in the Middle East.
The Iranian armed forces claim to have shot down several hostile combat aircraft in the country's airspace since the start of the conflict.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported on Friday that its air defense systems shot down an American F-35 fighter jet in central Iran.
In a statement released by its official Sepah News outlet, accompanied by images that, according to the statement, showed the wreckage of the aircraft, the IRGC indicated that the aircraft was hit by advanced air defense systems operated by its Aerospace Division.
The statement notes that the aircraft belonged to the 'Lakenheath squadron,' referring to the 48th Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, and that the aircraft was completely destroyed before crashing.
The IRGC added that the pilot's whereabouts were unknown and that the explosions upon impact made survival or a safe ejection unlikely.
American Silence
Meanwhile, the United States did not issue immediate comments, according to a Xinhua report accessed by the Argentine News Agency.
On March 19, the IRGC reported that one of its air defense systems had hit an American F-35 over central Iran, causing severe damage to the aircraft.
The US military subsequently stated that an F-35 made an emergency landing after a combat mission over Iran and that the pilot was stable.
On February 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks against Tehran and other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, along with high-ranking military and civilian officials.
