U.S. fighter jet downed over Iran, one pilot rescued, official says

( NBC )

U.S. forces were searching for an F-15E crew member after a two-seater fighter jet went down over Iran, a U.S. official said Friday. The other crew member has been rescued.

Iran shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle, a U.S. official said, and the American military was scrambling to find the second aviator after a regional governor offered a bounty for its crew.

A U.S. aircraft that was mobilized to support the search and rescue mission was also struck by Iranian fire after the F-15E jet was downed, a U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. official.

Iran's media published photos alongside claims from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that it had shot down the F-15E. The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately comment on the claims.

The governor of Iran's Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in Iran’s southwest, where Iranians were reported to have been searching for the missing pilot, on Saturday denied reports that the second American crew member had been found and arrested, according to Iran's semiofficial Mehr news agency.

The regional leadership of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also denied that "the second pilot of an F-15E fighter jet has been captured and detained by special airborne forces," Mehr also reported.

In a brief phone interview on Friday, President Donald Trump declined to discuss specifics of the rescue operation. When asked if Iran's actions would negatively affect any negotiations to end the war, the president said, "No, not at all. No, it's war."

Trump has said that the U.S. has been negotiating with Iran to end the war. Iran says there is no direct negotiation.

Trump did not immediately mention the U.S. fighter jet on his Truth Social account, instead referencing Iran's oil. "Keep the oil, anyone?" he posted Friday afternoon.

This is the first time it appears that a U.S. aircraft has gone down inside Iran as part of this latest conflict, dispelling the notion that the U.S. has complete control over the Iranian airspace. In recent days, the U.S. has ramped up the number of bombing runs over the country.

Regional officials issued a public plea Friday for locals to find those on board the F-15E and promised a reward, according to official and semi-official Iranian news organizations; a representative of merchants and businesses was reportedly offering the equivalent of $60,000.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident — the latest dramatic development in the war, now more than a month old.

Trump has declared success and pressured Iran to agree to a deal to end the war, while massing new troops in the Middle East and threatening intense escalation if Tehran doesn't reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz trade route.

It will also add to doubts over American-Israeli claims of dominance over Iran's skies. The joint campaign has focused intensely on destroying and degrading Iran's missile defenses, but Tehran has retained the capability to hit back across the region.

Iran has claimed previously to have struck American military planes, but the U.S. has not confirmed any such incidents during the war.

U.S. Central Command said an F-35 fighter jet made an emergency landing March 19, but stopped short of confirming this was the result of an Iranian attack.

Kuwait accidentally shot down three U.S. fighter jets near the start of the war.

The rescue operation Friday followed a morning of reporting by Iranian media and military observers on social media.

Nour News, an outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guard, said the jet “was destroyed in the skies over central Iran by a new advanced air defense system of the IRGC Aerospace Force.”

A channel affiliated with Iranian state television claimed that a U.S. pilot ejected from their aircraft over a rural region of southwestern Iran. An anchor urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did.

An on-screen crawl earlier urged the public to “shoot them if you see them,” referring to videos circulating of what appeared to be U.S. aircraft in the area. The semiofficial Mehr news agency later published videos that it said showed "brave locals firing at U.S. helicopters" with guns.

Responding to photos published by outlets in Tehran, one expert told NBC News that the "structure looks like an F-15."

"From the tail flash stripe markings from the 48th Fighter Wing, based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom," said Peter Layton, a former officer in the Australian air force and visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia.

A U.S. official also told NBC News that the downed jet is believed to be based out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath.

The base in Suffolk, eastern England, and RAF Feltwell in the neighboring county of Norfolk host the 48th Fighter Wing, comprising some 7,000 active-duty personnel and four squadrons of F-15 Strike Eagles and F-35A Lightning II fighter jets.

It is the largest U.S. fighter operation in Europe and has been a key hub of American activity heading to the Middle East.