Iran shoots down US fighter jets, helicopter

• Downed fighters include F-15E, A-10C Thunderbolt II & Blackhawk • One F-15E crew member recovered, search continue

TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON:

Iran on Friday said its armed forces shot down US fighter jets and an helicopter, raising the stakes for Washington in a conflict that, according to opinion polls, has struggled to win popular support among Americans.

US officials said search-and-rescue efforts have so far recovered one of two crew members who ejected an F-15E fighter jet, which has two seats: one for a pilot and the second for a weapons systems officer.

It was unclear which of the two was recovered, and the US official who confirmed the recovery did not offer any details on how it took place, in the first known incident of its kind in the nearly five-week-old war.

The Iranian armed forces in a statement said that it had struck an American A-10C Thunderbolt II in a separate incident on Friday. A source with knowledge confirmed the A-10 was hit but said the pilot was safely rescued.

The Iranian military said it had also hit a US Blackhawk helicopter that was participating in the search for the crew members of the downed F-15.

The Pentagon and US Central Command did not respond to requests for comment.

The prospect of a US pilot being alive and on the run inside Iran presents a challenge to the US military, which faces the twin goals of trying to save the life of an American behind enemy lines while safeguarding anyone involved in perilous rescue missions.

The incident comes over a week after US President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that Iran's military had been defeated to the point that "we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can't do a thing about it".

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been briefed, without confirming any details of the incident.

Iranian officials called on civilians to be on the lookout for survivors and have flooded social media with images that purport to show wreckage from the aircraft.

US air crews undergo training for what to do if they go down behind enemy lines, called Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training, or SERE, but few airmen are fluent in Persian and staying undetected while seeking rescue will be a challenge.

William Goodhind, a forensic imagery analyst with Contested Ground, said images of the plane's tail fin seen in photos posted on social media are consistent with that of an F-15E Strike Eagle, which carries two crew.

The governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said anyone who captured or killed the crew "would be specially commended", Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA reported.

The incident follows threats this week by Trump to bomb the country back to the "Stone Age", including to attack Iran's energy infrastructure and desalination plants, as he presses Tehran to end the war on US terms.

So far, 13 US military service members have been killed in the conflict and more than 300 have been wounded, according to the US Central Command. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.

While Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as in tatters, Reuters first reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability.

As of last week, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about one-third of Iran's missile arsenal. The status of about another third was less clear but bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.

In related developments, a key Iranian bridge collapsed in a strike, killing at least 13. Meanwhile, Iran conducted fresh attacks in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. US intelligence assesses Iran maintains significant missile-launching capability, according to sources.