One crew member rescued after US F-15 shot down over Iran while search continues for other pilot: report

A search-and-rescue operation is underway for the second pilot
One crew member has been rescued and the search continues for the second pilot after a U.S.

F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran , the first aircraft downed in Iranian territory since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

The jet, flown by a two-member crew, was shot down by Iranian forces around 6:45 a.m.

ET Friday and a rescue mission was quickly launched.

One of the pilots, who had ejected before the aircraft went down, was rescued by U.S.

forces, two U.S.

officials have told CBS News.

The pilot is alive and receiving medical attention, officials said.

U.S.

forces are racing to recover the second pilot, a weapons system officer, before Iranian forces can reach them.

Israel is helping the United States with the search and rescue operation.

An Iranian news anchor has urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did.

An on-screen TV crawl earlier urged the public to “shoot them if you see them”, referring to social media footage circulating of what appeared to be U.S.

aircraft in the area.

President Donald Trump told The Independent on Friday afternoon that he didn’t know what he would do if the pilot was harmed by the Iranians : "Well, I can't comment on it because — we hope that's not going to happen," and ended the call shortly thereafter.

Also on Friday, Iran's air defense system targeted an "enemy" A-10 ⁠aircraft in southern waters near the ⁠Hormuz Strait, ​the ⁠nation's state media ⁠said on ​Friday.

The ⁠New York ‌Times reported earlier in ‌the day ‌that a second U.S.

Air ⁠Force combat plane had crashed in the Gulf region on Friday ‌and its ​only ‌pilot was ⁠then rescued.

Hours after Trump was briefed on the crash of the F-15, the president made no mention of the incident as he took to Truth Social, writing: “KEEP THE OIL, ANYONE?”
But when asked about it during a brief interview with NBC News, Trump said that the downing of the U.S.

fighter jet would not affect any negotiations with Iran.

“No, not at all.

No, it’s war.

We’re in war,” he said on the call.

As the search for the F-15 jet’s missing crew continues, Iranian state-linked media outlets reported that helicopters were deployed to find the missing U.S.

military member, though there were conflicting accounts about their origin.

The Fars news agency said it was unclear who operated the aircraft, while Tasnim reported they were American and claimed at least one helicopter was forced to retreat after coming under fire.

Tasnim also said a U.S.

C-130 Hercules aircraft was involved in the operation.

Mizan, an outlet affiliated with Iran ’s judiciary, reported that an American rescue mission was active and published images it claimed showed U.S.

aircraft in Iranian airspace.

​Iranian officials ⁠called on civilians to be on the lookout for ​survivors, according to Reuters .

The governor of Iran 's ​Kohgiluyeh ⁠and Boyer-Ahmad province said whoever captured or killed the crew “would be specially ⁠commended,” ​according to the semi-official ​Iranian news agency ISNA.

The incident could represent a significant political complication for Trump , who suggested in a primetime address to the nation this week that the war was ending and that Iran's military capability had been all but destroyed.

He nevertheless said the U.S.-Israeli bombardment would continue for “two or three weeks.”
Shortly before the jet was shot down on Friday, Trump posted on Truth Social:
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.

IT WOULD BE A “GUSHER” FOR THE WORLD???

President DONALD J.

TRUMP”
Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have roiled stock markets, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and threatened to raise the cost of many basic goods, including food.

Trump has threatened further escalation, warning of potential strikes on Iran’s energy grid if the strait is not reopened.

Iranian officials have rejected negotiations under current conditions.

“Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote on social media late Thursday.

“New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”
On Friday, Trump celebrated the bombing of an Iranian bridge, as he warned on social media that there was “much more to follow.” Footage showed the moment the B1 bridge in Karaj, west of Tehran , was cut in half by the strike on Thursday.

The attack killed eight people and wounded 95, Iranian news media reported.

Today’s incident is the first U.S.

or Israeli jet to have been shot down over Iran since the war started.

Three U.S.

F-15E Strike Eagle jets were downed by friendly fire over Kuwait in March.

None of the aircrews were injured.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began on 28 February with U.S.

and Israeli strikes, the Associated Press reported.

In a review released Friday, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S.-based group, said it found that civilian casualties were clustered around strikes on security and state-linked sites “rather than indiscriminate bombardment” of urban areas.

More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, 19 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S.

service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon.

Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

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