Iranian and American forces were engaged in a race on Saturday to find the two crew members of the first American combat plane to crash in Iran since the beginning of the war, with Tehran claiming to have hit the aircraft.
American media announced on Friday that one of the two airmen had been rescued in southwest Iran, while the fate of the other, actively being searched for, remained unknown.
More than a month after the start of the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28 against the Islamic Republic, resulting in thousands of deaths, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, this represents the first major setback for the American hunt.
The Iranian army stated that its anti-air defense had also hit another American plane, an A-10, which then crashed in the Gulf, in a statement broadcasted by state television (Irib). The New York Times had earlier reported the crash of an American plane near the Strait of Hormuz, with its sole pilot being rescued unharmed.
Following a long silence, the White House simply stated that Donald Trump had been “informed” of the loss of the aircraft in southwest Iran, described as an F-15E fighter-bomber by the media.
In a brief phone interview with NBC, the American president assured that this incident would not change “anything at all” in the potential negotiations with Tehran.
Since the beginning of the war, no American soldier has been killed or captured on Iranian soil, but 13 have died in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.
The aircraft had been destroyed by an anti-air defense system of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, according to a spokesman for the Iranian armed forces, with additional searches ongoing.
The New York Times and the Washington Post claim to have authenticated photos and videos circulating on social media and Iranian media of American helicopters and planes flying at low altitudes in the area.
In economic terms, the war continues to raise serious concerns, with Iran’s almost complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing oil, fertilizer, and other commodity prices to soar, risking a global inflationary spiral.
Russia and Turkey have both called for an immediate ceasefire, citing the energy crisis as a key concern.
However, European shipping has started to resume, with a French-owned container ship passing through the strait on Thursday, displaying its ownership as French through its navigation signal.
The economic impact of the war is still spreading, with Bangladesh reducing office and shop hours to save energy and Islamabad reducing public transport fares for a month due to fuel price increases.
