2nd US Aircraft Downed Over Iran: Iranian State Media

Iranian state media said a second U.S. military aircraft was downed by Iran on Friday.

A U.S. A-10 Warthog warplane crashed into the waters in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces, Iranian state media said.

The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately return a request for comment.

Earlier on Friday, Iranian state media also stated that a U.S. fighter jet was shot down by Iran.

Search-and-rescue efforts were underway in southern Iran on Friday for the downed fighter jet. Senior Israeli security officials confirmed to Epoch Magazine in Israel that the United States dispatched search teams to the crash area.

One crew member of this aircraft has been rescued. The search for the second crew member remains ongoing.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the downing of the jet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Epoch Times.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed its forces shot down the U.S. fighter jet over Iranian territory. State-affiliated media reported that crew members may have ejected and landed inside the country.

The semi-official Tasnim News Agency, citing an IRGC statement, said the aircraft was an F-35 and published images it said showed parts of the wreckage.

Imagery analysis, however, points to an F-15E Strike Eagle, a two-seat variant. Forensic imagery analyst William Goodhind with Contested Ground said images of the aircraft’s tail fin circulating on social media are consistent with the F-15E.

Local television in the crash area has called on tribesmen and members of a local militia to target U.S. personnel if spotted, according to the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said anyone who captured or killed the crew “would be specially commended,” Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

Iran has made similar claims earlier during the conflict, claiming that it has downed U.S. aircraft, but U.S. Central Command has denied those assertions, saying all planes were accounted for.

The incidents come amid mounting tensions as Trump’s ultimatum for the Iranian regime to agree to a peace deal approaches an April 6 deadline. Indirect communications between Washington and Tehran, conducted through Pakistan’s army chief, have so far yielded little improvement.

Trump has intensified warnings in recent days, threatening to expand strikes on Iran’s critical infrastructure. “Our Military … hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social.

The warning followed a U.S. strike on a major bridge near Tehran. Trump later shared footage of the strike. “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again—Much more to follow!” he wrote. “It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said operations are being conducted in close coordination with Washington. “In full coordination between myself and President Trump, between the IDF and the United States Army, we will continue to crush Iran. This regime is weaker than ever,” he said in a statement. Recent strikes destroyed a substantial portion of Iran’s steel production capacity.

So far, 13 U.S. military service members have died, and more than 300 have been wounded, according to U.S. Central Command.

Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.