US confirms F-15 jet downed over Iran: One crewmember was alive, in US custody and receiving medical treatment, search for other ongoing Trump says US could easily open Strait of Hormuz with a little more time Israel launches strikes in Tehran White House seeks $1.5 trillion defense budget as Iran war drives costs.
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/ DUBAI - A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and a search-and-rescue operation was underway for the survivors, US sources said confirming Iranian state media reports on Friday, in the first such known incident since the war began nearly five weeks ago. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not respond to requests for comment.
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The prospect of US pilots being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for the United States in a conflict that has struggled to win popular support among Americans, according to opinion polls.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) air defences shot down a US F-15E fighter jet over southwestern Iran on Friday.
A spokesperson for Iran’s military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said the jet had been “completely destroyed” and that the pilot’s chances of survival were low, in comments carried by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
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Iran initially stated the jet was an F-35, but US military sources later briefed media that it was an F-15E that had been downed. Both the US and Iranian militaries launched a search for the pilot, with Iranian authorities urging citizens to join the hunt.
A local channel affiliated with state TV said the aircraft was targeted over central Iran and may have gone down in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, a rural and mountainous region.
Video geolocated by CNN showed multiple low flying military aircraft over Khuzestan Province in central Iran as part of an apparent search and rescue operation.
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In the video, one airplane can be seen flying low over the ground while two helicopters follow closely behind – a formation that is consistent with an air-to-air refueling operation. The video was taken on a bridge over the Karoon river, which is around 470 km south of Tehran.
US forces later claimed they rescued one of the crew members of a downed American fighter jet in Iran, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Two of the sources said the crew member was alive, in US custody and receiving medical treatment.
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It wasn’t clear what the status of the second crew member was. Sources said search and rescue operations were ongoing after the jet was downed over Iran.
One of the US sources also confirmed the aircraft was an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, an aircraft that can carry out air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. F-15s typically are crewed by a pilot and a weapon systems officer.
US President Donald Trump has been briefed on the US fighter jet that was downed over Iran, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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“The President has been briefed,” she says.
Also, US President Donald Trump suggested the US could “easily” reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, a shift in stance after insisting other countries are responsible for clearing the waterway.
“With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE,” Trump wrote in a Friday morning Truth Social post.
“IT WOULD BE A ‘GUSHER’ FOR THE WORLD???” he concluded.
The message raised questions about what, exactly, Trump believes the US responsibility is in reopening the strait, which has been effectively closed amid the ongoing war.
He has previously said countries that rely on oil passing through the strait, including in Europe and Asia, must patrol the passage, not the United States.
Nor was it clear whether his promise of needing “a little more time” to clear the strait indicated he envisioned the conflict lasting longer than his last estimate of two to three more weeks.
Meanwhile, Iran continued its attacks on neighboring Gulf nations Friday. In addition to striking a desalination plant in Kuwait early this morning, fresh attacks have been reported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
The UAE’s defense ministry said Friday the country’s air defenses are engaging with missile and drone attacks fired from Iran.
In the UAE’s capital of Abu Dhabi, authorities said debris from an intercepted Iranian strike caused a fire to break out at the Habshan gas facility, suspending operations there.
Debris fell in the city’s Ajban area, with 12 people of foreign nationality sustaining injuries including one Nepali national suffering a major injury.
In Saudi Arabia, air defenses intercepted six drones over some hours on Friday morning, the country’s defense ministry said in a post on X.
Data released by Bahrain’s Defense Force showed that the country had intercepted 16 drones over the past 24 hours. Early Friday, Bahrain’s interior ministry warned that sirens had sounded and urged civilians to head to the nearest safe place.
The Israeli military said it had launched a wave of strikes in Tehran on Friday, alongside parallel attacks in Beirut. “In addition to the strikes in Beirut, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian regime in Tehran,” the military said.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump asked lawmakers on Friday to approve a massive $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027, as the United States faces rising costs from its war with Iran and mounting global security commitments.
The proposal would lift Pentagon spending by more than 40 percent in a single year -- the sharpest increase since World War II -- as Washington seeks to sustain military operations and rebuild depleted weapons stockpiles.
The request highlights the growing financial pressure of a conflict now in its fifth week, and sets up a political battle in Congress over how to fund a dramatic expansion of military spending.
US media -- citing closed-door congressional briefings -- have reported that the Iran war could be costing as much as $2 billion per day, underscoring the scale of the burden even before longer-term reconstruction and resupply costs are factored in.
To offset part of the increase, the administration is proposing around $73 billion in cuts to non-defense spending -- roughly 10 percent -- targeting a range of domestic programs including environmental initiatives, housing assistance and education funding.
White House officials say the reductions would eliminate what they describe as wasteful spending and shift some responsibilities back to state and local governments.
Trump has framed the defense increase in urgent terms, arguing that military investment must take precedence during wartime, even at the expense of federal social programs.
“It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare,” Trump said at a recent private event, adding that such responsibilities could be handled at the state level while Washington focuses on “military protection.”