By Tom Ozimek
Search-and-rescue efforts were underway in southern Iran on April 3 after an American fighter jet was shot down over Iranian airspace, with one crew member rescued and another still missing, senior Israeli security officials confirmed to Epoch Magazine Israel.
According to the Israeli officials, the United States dispatched search teams to the crash area, and so far, the teams have succeeded in rescuing one crew member, with the search for the second ongoing.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the downing of the jet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN.
It comes after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on April 3 that its forces shot down a U.S. fighter jet over Iranian territory, with state-affiliated media reporting that crew members may have ejected and landed inside the country.
The semi-official Tasnim News Agency, citing an IRGC statement, said the aircraft was an F-35 and published images it said showed parts of the wreckage. The outlet added that the pilot’s fate remains unknown and claimed U.S. forces were seen conducting a search operation in the area using Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 Hercules aircraft.
The type of aircraft that was downed remains unclear, with some reports indicating it was an F-15 and not, as the IRGC claimed, an F-35.
Local television in the area where the aircraft crashed has called on tribesmen and members of a local militia to target U.S. personnel if spotted, according to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
The IRGC claimed the downed aircraft was deployed from RAF Lakenheath, home to the 48th Fighter Wing of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has not issued any public statements regarding the downing.
In previous similar Iranian claims made during the conflict, CENTCOM has denied Tehran’s assertions of downed U.S. aircraft, saying all planes were accounted for.
The Epoch Times has reached out to CENTCOM and the White House with requests for comment and additional information.
