An American F-15E Strike Eagle combat jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, prompting a risky search operation for a second crew member after one airman was rescued, U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed. The incident marks the first known loss of an American combat aircraft over Iran since the conflict began over a month ago.

While U.S. and Israeli officials attributed the downing to Iranian air defenses, the Iranian military claimed its air-defense systems had struck an A-10. The F-15E incident occurred just three days after Pentagon leaders asserted "an increase in air superiority" over Iran, suggesting Tehran retains command of its airspace despite extensive bombing of its military and air defense infrastructure. During the subsequent search-and-rescue mission, an American helicopter was hit by Iranian ground fire but managed to escape safely to Iraq.

Concurrently, a second U.S. Air Force combat plane, an A-10 Warthog, crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, with its sole pilot successfully rescued, according to U.S. officials.

The downing of the F-15E came as the war entered a new phase, impacting the global economy. Iran's effective constraint of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical gateway for oil and gas, has strained countries reliant on Persian Gulf exports. Recent days have seen the United States and Israel intensify strikes on Iranian infrastructure, including a highway bridge near Tehran. In retaliation, Iran has targeted key oil facilities and other strategic sites in Gulf countries, with Kuwait reporting damage to a power and water desalination plant and a drone strike on an oil refinery. Authorities in Abu Dhabi also reported a fire at a major gas field, caused by debris from an air defense interception.

In Iran, state television called on residents in a southwestern province to capture any "enemy pilot or pilots" for a reward. The speaker of Iran's Parliament, Mohammad Ghalibaf, mocked the U.S. war effort on social media. U.S. search-and-rescue teams, including helicopters and C-130 aircraft, conducted low-altitude flights over southwestern Iran to locate the missing airman, an operation described as highly dangerous due to the continued presence of Iranian anti-aircraft weaponry.

President Trump did not directly address the specifics of the search-and-rescue operations but stated that the warplane's loss would not influence ongoing negotiations with Iran, which Tehran has publicly denied. "No, it's war. We're in war," Mr. Trump was quoted as saying. The potential capture of U.S. airmen has long been a significant concern for military planners.

The F-15E, introduced decades ago, is capable of high-speed, low-altitude flight in various conditions and can deploy a range of precision-guided weapons. American military pilots undergo extensive training in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) protocols. Military analysts noted that the timing of the incident, near sunset on Friday, could offer an advantage for U.S. night-time rescue operations. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, supported by local residents, initiated their own search for the missing airman in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province.

Beyond Friday's incidents, U.S. forces have experienced other losses in the conflict, including three F-15Es shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait on March 2, with all six crew members safely ejecting, and a KC-135 tanker crash in western Iraq a week later that killed six crew.