Iran Claims US Fighter Jet Shot Down Over Iranian Airspace; Search & Rescue Aircraft Spotted in Western Provinces

Islamic Republic state media, including IRIB (Voice and Vision), on Friday, 14 Farvardin (April 3), published images claiming a US military fighter jet was targeted and shot down over Iran's airspace. IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency published images of the aircraft wreckage. CNN reported that, contrary to initial Iranian officials' claims, the published images show an F-15 fighter jet, not an F-35. The US military has not yet responded to the reports. Simultaneously, an account attributed to the IRGC Intelligence Organization published an image of a pilot's ejection seat found on Iranian soil. Hours after the reports, images of several helicopters and a refueling aircraft in the skies over Khuzestan, Kermanshah, and then Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari provinces were published in Iranian media. Fars News Agency and IRIB state the helicopters and aircraft entered Iranian airspace for reconnaissance and rescue of pilots. Local Islamic Republic officials in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province have asked armed tribesmen and villagers to "target foreign soldiers."