Online Reporter
US forces were searching for an F-15E crew member after a two-seater fighter jet went down over Iran, a US official said Friday.
The other crew member has been rescued.
Iran shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle, a US official said, and the American military was scrambling to find the second aviator after a regional governor offered a bounty for its crew.
A US aircraft that was mobilised to support the search and rescue mission was also struck by Iranian fire after the F-15E jet was downed, a US official told NBC News.
That aircraft, a single-pilot A-10 Thunderbolt, known as a Warthog, made it to Kuwaiti airspace, where the pilot ejected and the aircraft crashed, the official said.
The pilot is safe and the A-10 is down in Kuwait, according to the official.
Two US military Blackhawk helicopters that were involved in search and rescue efforts were also struck by Iranian fire, but the service members were unharmed, according to a US official.
Iran’s media published photos alongside claims from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it had shot down the F-15E.
The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately comment on the claims.
In a brief phone interview on Friday, President Donald Trump declined to discuss specifics of the rescue operation.
Trump has said that the US has been negotiating with Iran to end the war.
Iran says there is no direct negotiation. — Wires
