A search operation rescued one crew member after a US fighter jet was shot down over western Iran, US and Israeli media report, citing unnamed officials.
Reports a US F-15E jet had been downed were first published by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Tasnim news agency. It would mark the first time a US jet has been taken out by Iran since the start of the war on 28 February.
Social media footage verified by the BBC shows a refuelling plane and two helicopters flying low over Khuzestan province, consistent with a search and rescue mission.
The apparent incident comes despite US President Donald Trump saying on Wednesday that Iran’s drone and missile capabilities had been “decimated”.
The F-15E seats two people, suggesting another crew member is still missing.
The governor of Iran’s southern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province – which sits beside Khuzestan province – has said that the priority was “capturing” any downed US crew “alive”, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.
Iranian outlets have said that a reward of 10 billion tomans (around £50,000) has been set to find the “intruder”.
Tasnim had reported earlier on Friday that the US was searching for one of its pilots, adding that US helicopters, planes and reconnaissance drones were all involved in the search.
US outlets including Axios, the New York Times and Reuters then followed, citing US officials.
Asked by the BBC about reports that a US fighter jet had been shot down, the White House provided a statement that said only that “the president has been briefed”.
The US had denied a report on Thursday morning by the IRGC that a fighter jet pilot had been shot down over Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Images circulating online show debris that has come from a US F-15E Strike Eagle, Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank told the BBC.
The images show the wingtip and part of a vertical stabiliser from a plane belonging to the US 494th Fighter Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, he said.
The BBC has verified that the images only began to circulate on social media on Friday and has found no signs of AI manipulation – but has been unable to confirm where the images were taken.
The apparent downing of the jet comes after both Trump and US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth have each repeatedly suggested that the US had already effectively won the war with Iran.
Trump said in a televised address on Wednesday that the US military had nearly completed its objectives, vowing to strike Iran “extremely hard” over the coming two or three weeks.
Iranian attacks across the region have continued despite US forces saying they had struck more than 12,300 targets, including naval vessels and facilities, missile launchers and defence manufacturing plants.
Trump has also touted talks with the Iranian regime, though Tehran has denied any contact with his administration. The Wall Street Journal reports that efforts to reach a ceasefire have hit a dead end, with Iranian officials unwilling to meet US counterparts.
The F-15 would not be the first US aircraft to be taken out of service during the course of the conflict, which began five weeks ago with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting retaliatory strikes across the region.
Three US fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences in early March, in what Centcom described as “an apparent friendly fire incident”. All six crew ejected safely and were recovered.
In March, six crew members of a US military refuelling aircraft died after it crashed in western Iraq.
Centcom said neither hostile nor friendly fire were involved in the loss of the KC-135 aircraft.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says that 1,606 civilians, including at least 244 children, have been killed in Iran since the start of the conflict.
The F-15E Strike Eagle can fly at low altitudes and typically contains a pilot and a weapons systems officer.
One of them costs around $100m (£75m) and is equipped with a radar system that enables the detection of ground targets from long ranges.
It is designed to perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
