Downed jets raise new perils for Trump as Iran hunts for missing US pilot

WASHINGTON/CAIRO - Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, with two US pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran's forces.

The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.

NBC News reported that US helicopters were struck by Iranian fire as they participated in the search-and-rescue operation. All the service members from the helicopters are safe, NBC News said, citing a US official.

The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian air defenses, officials in both countries said.

The second plane, an A-10 attack aircraft, was hit by Iranian air defenses over southern waters near the Hormuz Strait before crashing, according to Iranian state media, which cited the Iranian army. US officials confirmed that the plane had been shot down and said the pilot had been rescued.

The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E pilot are not publicly known. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot's plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy."

Iranians, who have been pummeled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the US and Israel’s war had been “downgraded from regime change" to a hunt for their pilots.

Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No sign of end to war

The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.

Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead-end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

The US and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.

So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the U.S. Central Command.

Iran has rained drones and missiles down on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.

In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.

Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.

Trump threat to strike bridges, power plants

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.

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.

On Friday, a drone hit a Red Crescent relief warehouse in the Choghadak area of Iran's southern Bushehr province.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery had been hit by drones. Other attacks were also reported to have been intercepted in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. Missile debris landed near the Israeli port of Haifa, site of a major oil refinery.

Oil markets were closed after benchmark US crude prices gained 11% on Thursday following a speech by Trump that offered no clear sign of an imminent end to the war. —Reuters