Iran Claims to Have Shot Down a U.S. F-15E

Iranian state television announced on Friday that the country's armed forces shot down an American F-15E bomber in the south and launched an operation to rescue the two pilots. 'Iran has shot down an F-15E Strike Eagle,' stated IRIB, Iran's state television. The channel showed images of two presumed American helicopters searching for the downed jet's pilots. In this regard, Iranian authorities urged for the search for the American pilot in the neighboring provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, as well as Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. U.S. news outlet Axios reported that a source familiar with the situation confirmed the shoot-down and the rescue operation, although U.S. Central Command (Centcom) did not comment. The U.S. denies the jet was shot down. Iran has repeatedly announced the shoot-down of U.S. fighter jets since the war began on February 28, but Centcom has always denied it, and this time was no exception, as U.S. sources once again rejected the information spread by Iran. In mid-March, the Revolutionary Guard claimed to have shot down a U.S. F-35 fighter jet, a country that stated the aircraft made an emergency landing at a base in the Middle East and is investigating the reason. According to U.S. media, other American aircraft were shot down during the war, such as three F-15 fighters mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses; the six crew members ejected safely. Additionally, a KC-135 tanker plane crashed in Iraq, although the cause is unclear. The U.S. Army stated that the incident was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire. U.S. bombs civilian bridge, Iran promises 'devastating' attacks. Prior to the release of information about the shoot-down of a U.S. fighter jet, the Iranian military confirmed a bombing of a bridge under construction in Alborz province. In this regard, they warned that any attack on such infrastructure or power plants would provoke 'more devastating than ever' attacks not only against the United States and Israel, but also against their allies. 'Any attack on Iran's bridges, power plants, or energy infrastructure will lead to attacks not only against all American and Israeli targets in the region and the occupied territories, but also against key positions of U.S. allies and host countries, with greater harshness and devastation than before,' said the spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters.