The United States rescues a pilot from a fighter jet shot down by Iran and searches for a second

BarcelonaThe United States suffered a significant blow this Friday in its war against Iran, when a fighter jet was shot down southwest of the country. Iranian state television first reported it, and later several North American media outlets confirmed it, citing anonymous government sources, while the Donald Trump administration remained silent. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt limited herself to saying that "the president has been informed."

The Pentagon has launched a mission to rescue the two crew members of the aircraft and, according to several media outlets, they have successfully extracted one of them. A video geolocated by CNN –recorded about 470 kilometers south of Tehran– showed several military aircraft over the province of Khuzestan, in central Iran, as part of an apparent search and capture operation.

Later, the New York Times, citing two U.S. officials, reported that a second U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashed in the Persian Gulf region, and the sole pilot was rescued. It was an A-10 Warthog attack aircraft, which crashed near the Strait of Hormuz at approximately the same time the F-15E was shot down in Iran. Iranian state media later claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Pentagon has not yet issued a definitive official statement. But the presence of Black Hawk rescue helicopters in the area confirms the gravity of a situation that could lead to the capture of the first American prisoners of war, if the extraction mission is unsuccessful. So far, a total of 13 American soldiers have died and 300 have been injured in the war, but no American soldier has been captured by Iran.

Iranian authorities have issued a call to the local population offering a reward of 10 billion Iranian tomans, about 5.8 million euros, to any civilian who manages to capture the pilots and deliver them alive to the security forces.

This is the first time Iran has shot down a US fighter jet on its territory since the war began on February 28. However, it is not the first American aircraft to be affected, as three more F-15s have been attacked. The other three incidents, however, were friendly fire in Kuwait at the start of hostilities, and in all cases the crew members were rescued.

The attack on the American fighter jet is significant for several reasons. Firstly, because it shows that Iran continues to have the capacity to defend its airspace, contradicting the repeated claims of Donald Trump, who has assured that the US has practically won the war and has air superiority over the country. "We literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of the country. They can do nothing," Trump said last month.

Attacks on civilian infrastructure

Furthermore, this incident could lead to an intensification of attacks by the United States in retaliation. Donald Trump promised on Wednesday to attack Iran "hard" over the next two to three weeks. On Thursday, he disseminated a video of a bombing of the B1 bridge in Karaj, about 20 kilometers from Tehran, and threatened to continue attacking civilian infrastructure. This Friday, he suggested that power plants could be the next targets. "Our army, the largest and most powerful (by far!) in the world, has not even begun to destroy what is left in Iran," he stated on the social network Truth Social.

"Now, the bridges; then, the power plants! The regime's new leadership knows what must be done, and it must be done quickly!". According to the latest data, at least eight people have died and 95 more have been injured in the United States' attack on the B1 bridge in Karaj, a major infrastructure that was in the final phase of construction.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has described Trump's threat as an admission of the intention to commit a "massive war crime". And the Islamist regime has threatened to attack infrastructure in neighboring countries. The state agency Fars listed several bridges in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Jordan as potential targets on Thursday.

In this context, the end of the war does not seem immediate, as the US president has been clamoring for days. According to the Wall Street Journal, furthermore, efforts to agree on a ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, led by Pakistan, are at a "dead end". Iran is not willing to meet with US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and the United States' demands are "unacceptable", according to mediators. On the other hand, the state agency Fars has reported that Washington had proposed a 48-hour ceasefire to Iran, which it has rejected.

Attacks on Gulf countries

The Persian Gulf countries have continued to intercept attacks against their territories. In the United Arab Emirates, the Habshan gas plant has suspended operations after a fire caused by the fall of shrapnel from an intercepted missile, which left one dead and four injured. In the Ajban area, another similar incident caused 12 injuries.

In Kuwait, an attack has damaged an electrical plant and a water desalination plant. The government has blamed Iran, while Tehran claims Israel is responsible. Furthermore, the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the most important in the region, has been attacked for the third time since the start of the war.

Regarding the instability in the Strait of Hormuz, for the first time since the blockade began, a container ship from a major European group, the CMA CGM Kirbi, under Maltese flag and French ownership, has successfully traversed the Strait of Hormuz. A Japanese vessel has also done so.

Trump has once again shown interest in reopening this maritime crossing, key for global trade. Days ago, he said allies "should gather enough courage and take it" and also assured that the US "doesn't need the strait" because they have plenty of oil. Today, he has contradicted himself again, and in a post on Truth Social he wrote: "With a little more time, we can easily open the Strait of Hormuz, take the oil and make a fortune."

Prices for a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, stood at around $109 this Friday, an increase of more than 50% since the start of the war, when Iran began to restrict transit through the strait.

Israel wants to raze Lebanon as it has done with Gaza

For its part, Israel continues to intensify its parallel war against Lebanon. This Friday, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the army will begin demolishing homes in the south of the country, emulating the model it already applies in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. "The houses in the villages near the border with Lebanon, which in practice serve as advanced positions for Hezbollah, will be demolished following the models of Rafah and Khan Yunis in Gaza," he stated. The latest victim count from Israeli bombings in Lebanon is 1,368 dead and 4,138 wounded.