US media outlets reported that one of the two crew on the plane had already been rescued by US special forces, and a search was underway for the second crew member.
According to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, the plane was an F-15E fighter jet. The warplane is crewed by a pilot and a weapons-systems officer in the back seat.
An anchor on a local Iranian channel read out an announcement saying, "Military forces have launched a search operation to find the American fighter pilot who was hit earlier today. Dear and honourable people of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, if you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and bonus".
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is an intensely rural and mountainous region that spans over 15,500 square kilometres (5,900 square miles). Iranian authorities also urged the public to search in neighbouring Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces.
A separate on-screen crawl urged the public to "shoot them if you see them".
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB also posted on X that crowds of civilians had driven out in private cars towards the crash site.
"Many people in southwestern Iran have gone to the area around the crash site of the American fighter jet in private cars to capture the American pilot. The Iranian armed forces have called on the people NOT TO LET anyone mistreat the pilot", they wrote.
Iranian media claimed that an F-35 stealth fighter had been brought down over central Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran's Tasnim news agency published images of what they described as the wreckage of an American jet, adding that the chances of the pilot surviving were low.
IRIB also claimed separately that an F-15E Strike Eagle belonging to the 494th Fighter Squadron, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, had been shot down. [I reckon this F-15E is the same F-15E reported at the start of the post – but I don't know, tbh].
"Debris of the tail fin confirms the downing. The fate of the pilots is currently unclear", they posted on X.
This is the third time Iran has claimed to have downed an F-35 since the conflict began on February 28. Tehran made similar claims on March 23 and April 02.
Both earlier claims were dismissed by the US Central Command. Responding to one such Iranian video, relating to a reported crash near Qeshm Island, CENTCOM's official X account wrote, "All US fighter aircraft are accounted for. Iran's IRGC have made the same false claim at least half a dozen times".
I can count. From the above, it's only 3 times an F-35 was said to have been shot down, not counting the F-15E!
As of the time of writing, there has been no official response from CENTCOM, the Pentagon or the White House regarding the latest Iranian claims.
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