F-15 US Fighter Jet Shot Over Iran
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Iran shot down a U.S. fighter jet over the country, U.S. officials and Iranian state-affiliated media said on Friday.
The fate of the plane’s crew was unclear, as American officials scrambled to mount a search and rescue operation before Iran could get to any survivors, officials said.
U.S. Central Command keeps multiple task forces set up near Iran for search and rescue operations in the event that American warplanes are shot down, including in both Iraq and Syria, the officials said. But such an operation is highly difficult because Iran has demonstrated its ability to launch strikes, particularly at slow-moving helicopters that might be involved in such an operation.
The warplane was shot down the same day that President Trump celebrated the American bombing of an Iranian highway bridgeand warned on social media that there was “much more to follow.” The U.S. attack on the B1 bridge between Tehran and the shores of the Caspian Sea killed eight people and wounded 95, Iranian news media reported.
A U.S. military official said that American forces had struck the bridge twice, eliminating what the official called a planned military supply route for Iran’s missile and drone forces.
The officials all spoke on the condition of anonymity to share operational details.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Trump, in an address to the nation, said that the United States was on track to complete America’s military objectives in Iran soon, asserting that U.S. and Israeli military strikes had decimated the Iranian regime and military. He vowed another two to three weeks of intense bombing.
“Over the next two to three weeks, we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong,” the president said.
His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, quickly repeated his boss’s words on social media.
“Back to the Stone Age,” Mr. Hegseth wrote.
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