After Trump announces “pilot rescued,” Iran claims it shot down a U.S. aircraft

IRGC: “U.S. aircraft shot down south of Isfahan”

Iran has claimed it shot down a U.S. aircraft that had been tracking the pilot of a U.S. F-15 fighter jet. The statement came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump said one of the downed fighter’s crew members had been rescued.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, citing the public relations office of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the 5th (local time), reported: “By the grace of Allah, a U.S. enemy aircraft that was tracking the pilot of the downed fighter jet was shot down by Islamic fighters south of Isfahan.”

Iran issued the claim shortly after President Trump said one officer who had been aboard a U.S. F-15 fighter jet shot down in Iran had been rescued. On Truth Social, Trump said that on his orders, “the U.S. military deployed dozens of aircraft armed with the most lethal weapons in the world to rescue him,” adding that the officer was wounded but “will recover soon.”

It is not yet clear whether the “enemy aircraft” Iran said it shot down was one of the dozens of aircraft deployed for the rescue, or whether the operation succeeded but resulted in another U.S. loss.

The rescued officer is one of two crew members of the F-15 fighter jet that Iran claimed its air defenses shot down on the 3rd. The U.S. military subsequently launched a search-and-rescue effort, deploying assets including a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and HH-60 helicopters, and rescued one of the pilots first.

Rescuing a pilot from a downed fighter jet was seen as an important “turning point” for both the United States and Iran. A captured pilot could become a target for intelligence gathering and propaganda. If Iran were to secure the pilot, it could gain leverage in future negotiations.

Park Subin, Hankyung.com reporter waterbean@hankyung.com