The search continues for a missing U.S. pilot, while another was rescued, after two U.S. fighter jets crashed in separate incidents over Iran and the Persian Gulf, the Associated Press reported.
The agency notes that this is the first such downing of a plane since the start of the war in Iran nearly five weeks ago, as well as the first downing of a U.S. military plane in more than 20 years.
The incidents occurred just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a prime-time address that the United States had "defeated and totally destroyed Iran".
U.S. officials confirmed the downing of a fighter jet over Iran, saying it was an F-15E "Eagle" (McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle). One of the two crew members was rescued, but the other is still missing and a military operation is underway to find him.
Separately, it was reported that a second aircraft, an A-10 attack aircraft (Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II), had been shot down and crashed in the Persian Gulf - in the waters off Kuwait after being hit by Iranian fire.
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was still unclear whether the aircraft was shot down or crashed as a result of the attack.
The conflict, now in its sixth week, has destabilized economies around the world amid ongoing strikes by Iran in response to US and Israeli attacks, with Iranian forces striking energy infrastructure in the Gulf and continuing to block commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, hampering the trade in oil and natural gas. gas.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced today that it had attacked a ship linked to Israel in the Persian Gulf. The vessel caught fire after the attack carried out by a drone. The attack on the ship "Ishyka", "belonging to the Israeli regime" but registered under the flag of a third country, was carried out in the port of "Khalifa bin Salman" in Bahrain, reported Agence France-Presse, citing the media outlet "Sepah News", which belongs to the military support of the regime in Iran.
However, these claims have not been independently verified.
Earlier today, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that it had been informed by Iran of an air strike near the territory of the "Busher" nuclear power plant. The IAEA reported in "Ex" that one of the physical security personnel at the site was killed by falling debris. A building at the facility was hit by shock waves and debris, Reuters notes.
This is the fourth time the "Busher" nuclear power plant has been targeted during the war, the AP notes.
The strikes in the region continue as earlier the Iraqi coalition of former Shiite paramilitary factions "Hashd al-Shaabi", also known as the "Popular Mobilization Forces", reported that one of their fighters was killed in an airstrike near the Syrian border, Agence France-Presse reported.
"This treacherous attack resulted in the death of a "Hashd al-Shaabi" fighter and wounded four others, as well as a member of the Ministry of Defense," the statement said by the "Hashd al-Shaabi," which is integrated into the state security forces and includes pro-Iranian groups. The group blamed the attack on the United States and Israel.
The Pentagon said that since the beginning of the war, helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq. However, the United States has categorically denied that it has carried out strikes on Iraqi security forces.