Early Friday, reports emerged that a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iran, appearing to mark the first such incident during the war, prompting a search and rescue mission for the crew members. One has been found alive, officials told multiple outlets. Separately, two helicopters were reportedly fired at as they sought to locate the fighter jet’s crew. Another U.S. aircraft, an A-10 Thunderbolt, known as a Warthog, was also reportedly struck by Iranian fire as it searched for the missing crew member. The pilot entered Kuwaiti airspace, ejected safely, and the aircraft crashed, an official told NBC News.
Despite the frenzied reports throughout the day, CENTCOM has said nothing. CENTCOM has been quick to push back on reports of fake news peddled by the Iranian regime during the six-week conflict with Iran, so their silence was all the more notable, although multiple unnamed sources spoke to various media outlets throughout the day.
The Department of War has also refrained from publicly commenting, perhaps because one of the downed F-15E fighter jet’s crew members still appears to be missing. The White House earlier told the Washington Examiner that President Donald Trump had been briefed on reports of the incident but did not confirm whether it had actually occurred.
Iran’s military is also said to be searching for the missing American from the destroyed plane, and has closed off an area in southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, where they believe the flier went down, according to the New York Times. The capture of an American pilot would be a massive public relations coup for the Islamic regime.
The Pentagon and United States Central Command did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s repeated requests for details on Friday, during regular business hours and after hours.
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Trump himself declined to discuss specifics of the rescue operation during a brief interview with NBC News.
Iran’s strikes on U.S. aircraft come as Washington has been engaged with Iranian negotiators since roughly March 21, seeking to bring the conflict to a halt with a peace settlement. When pressed on Friday on whether Iran’s latest actions would negatively affect any negotiations to end the war, the president said, “No, not at all. No, it’s war.”
Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday night about the war, where he said the war would continue for another three weeks.
“Our armed forces have been extraordinary. There’s never been anything like it,” he declared. “We are going to finish the job. And we’re going to finish it very fast. We’re getting very close.”
