The Iranian army announced on Friday that it had targeted an American-Israeli A-10 aircraft, after spotting it in southern waters near the Strait of Hormuz.
In an implicit acknowledgment of losses, the American newspaper “The New York Times” reported that a second US Air Force fighter plane had crashed in the Gulf region. The newspaper indicated that one of the pilots was rescued, while search and rescue teams are still making efforts to find the other pilot, according to statements by American officials.
The two officials explained that the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft had fallen near the Strait of Hormuz, at approximately the same time that an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over Iranian territory.
In a related context, CBS News reported that the fire that targeted an American rescue helicopter resulted in the injury of a number of its crew members.
In turn, Tasnim News Agency quoted sources as saying that during the past hours, the US Army had sent a number of Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 Hercules plane in an attempt to rescue the pilots of an American fighter that was shot down by Iranian air defenses earlier in the day, but the operation failed and rescue attempts were thwarted.
Iran had previously announced the downing of an American fighter plane in the airspace of central Iran, in an incident not the first of its kind, and confirmed that the plane had two American pilots on board who fell inside Iranian territory.
These developments come as the Islamic Republic continues to confront the American-Israeli aggression on the ground, by targeting the occupied Palestinian depths and striking American interests and bases in the region, in response to the attacks that targeted Iranian territory.
