Iranian and American forces were racing each other early Saturday to recover a crew member from the first US fighter jet confirmed downed inside Iran since the start of the war, in a dramatic escalation of an already widening regional conflict.
Tehran said it shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported that American special forces had rescued one of the aircraft’s two crew members. The other remained missing, prompting a high-risk search and rescue mission deep inside hostile territory.
Iran’s military also said it had downed a US A-10 ground-attack aircraft in the Gulf. US media reported that pilot was later rescued.
The downing of the F-15 marks a major moment in the conflict that erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering retaliatory attacks that have spread across the Middle East, shaken the global economy and disrupted energy supplies and civilian life far beyond the battlefield.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reported loss of the F-15, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said only that “the president has been briefed.”
US President Donald Trump, speaking to NBC, said the incident would not affect negotiations with Iran. “No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he said.
An Iranian military spokesperson said “an American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s advanced air defence system,” adding that the aircraft had been “completely obliterated” and that searches were continuing.
Iranian television further raised tensions by announcing that anyone who captured a crew member alive would “receive a valuable reward,” underscoring the danger facing the missing American.
US rescue efforts were reportedly met with hostile fire. Earlier reports said helicopters involved in the recovery mission came under attack as American forces tried to extract survivors and locate the second crew member. The fate of that missing service member remains unclear, with no official confirmation as to whether the individual is alive, wounded, in hiding or captured.
Military analysts say such missions rank among the most dangerous in modern warfare. Retired US brigadier general Houston Cantwell, who has 400 hours of combat flight experience, said the immediate priorities for a downed pilot are establishing location, maintaining concealment and finding a way to communicate. “My priority would be, first of all, concealment, because I don’t want to be captured,” he told AFP.
Israel has postponed its planned strikes on Iran so as not to interfere with the search efforts for the US crew member, Western officials told reporters on a call.