(Tehran, 4th) Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on social media on the 3rd to mock the US after an American fighter jet was shot down by Iranian forces.
Ghalibaf stated that after the enemy claimed to have "defeated Iran 37 times in a row," this war launched by the US and Israel—which they deem clever yet utterly lacking in strategy—has now been downgraded from attempting "regime change" to "Hey! Who can find our pilots?"
The public relations department of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement saying that the country's air defense system shot down a US F-35 fighter jet over central Iranian airspace that day. According to US media, Iranian media released a photo of a damaged pilot ejection seat on the ground. Military analysts, based on this photo, judge that it was in fact an F-15E fighter jet.
The F-15E is a multi-role fighter capable of both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions and typically has two crew members—a pilot and a weapons systems officer—and does not have stealth capability.
The New York Times, citing American officials, reported that a US military fighter jet was shot down inside Iran and the crew's whereabouts are unknown.
Citing sources, the report said that a rescue operation for the crew members of the US military fighter jet that crashed in Iran is being urgently conducted, with US forces trying to find survivors before the Iranians do.
Bloomberg quoted a US official on the 3rd as saying that Iran had shot down a US F-15E fighter jet and that a search-and-rescue mission is underway for the two crew members on board.
CBS News, quoting two US officials, reported that one pilot has been rescued while the whereabouts of the other remain undetermined.
US Central Command and the White House have not yet responded to prior reports by The New York Times and other media.
Iranian state media announced a reward for the live capture of pilots allegedly shot down over Iran. A local channel on Iran's national television broadcast the following statement: "If you capture the enemy pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a generous reward." In addition, a scrolling subtitle on the screen urged the public to "shoot on sight if you see them," and displayed social media images purportedly showing US aircraft in the area.