US fighter jet shot down over Iran, search underway for crew

A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and a search and rescue operation was underway for any survivors, a US official told Reuters on Friday, in the first such known incident since the US launched its war with Iran on February 28.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details.

The Pentagon and US Central Command did not respond to requests for comment.

The prospect of US pilots being alive and on the run inside Iran during an ongoing conflict greatly raises the stakes for the United States in the conflict. Iranian officials called on civilians to be on the lookout for survivors.

The governor of Iran's Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said whomever captured or killed the crew "would be specially commended," according to the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA.

There were no confirmed details of the searches or the type of aircraft shot down, which the Iranian military said was an F-35, a single-seater.

The loss underlined the risk still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran, despite assertions by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.

No signs of end to war 

Nearly five weeks after the US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there is no sign of an end to the war, which has already killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.

On Thursday, Trump posted footage on social media showing dust and smoke billowing up as US strikes hit the newly constructed B1 bridge between Tehran and nearby Karaj, which was due to open this year, and said more attacks would follow.

"Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn't even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!," he wrote in a subsequent post.

Despite the pressure, Iran has been able to hit back at Israel and strike Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.

On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf States that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.

Trump urged Iran's leaders to seek peace, saying on social media that Iran "knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!".

But Tehran has shown no sign of acquiescence and Trump faces growing pressure to find a quick resolution, with anger building at home and his Republican Party in danger of losing control of Congress at elections in November.

Negotiations conducted via intermediaries with new leaders in Iran have shown little sign of progress, and polls indicate most Americans oppose the war.

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