US fighter jets
By Our Reporter
A United States official has confirmed that an American fighter jet was shot down over Iran, as tensions between Washington and Tehran continued to escalate.
According to new reports, “an American official has told the Reuters news agency the jet had been shot down and a search is under way for the pilots.”
The confirmation follows earlier claims by Iranian authorities, which alleged that the aircraft was one of two U.S. F-35 fighter jets destroyed during ongoing hostilities.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had stated that the advanced warplane was downed while flying over central Iran.
In a Telegram post carried by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, the jet was described as “completely destroyed and crashed,” with no immediate details available regarding the pilot due to the severity of the damage.
Iran’s Mehr News Agency further intensified the claims, reporting that survival was unlikely, stating that ejection may not have been possible because of the “violent explosion” that accompanied the crash.
Despite the U.S. confirmation that a jet was shot down, the American military has yet to fully corroborate Iran’s broader claim that multiple aircraft were destroyed. Previously, U.S. officials had dismissed a similar assertion by the IRGC.
The incident marks a significant escalation in the crisis, given that the F-35 is among the most advanced stealth fighter jets in the United States’ arsenal and a key component of its air superiority capabilities.
