On Friday afternoon, the Iranian Armed Forces claimed responsibility for shooting down a U.S. A-10 aircraft near the Strait of Hormuz—an incident occurring on a day that also saw the confirmed downing of an F-35 fighter jet belonging to the North American nation.
“One hour ago, an A-10 aircraft belonging to the aggressive U.S.-Zionist enemy was intercepted and engaged in southern waters, in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz, by the country’s air defense systems,” the Army stated in a communiqué broadcast via the state-run television network, IRIB.
“We attacked an enemy aircraft south of Qeshm Island, and it plunged into the waters of the Persian Gulf,” the military branch added, without providing further details.
The aircraft in question is an A-10 Warthog, which was reportedly conducting a search-and-rescue operation for one of the two crew members aboard the F-35 fighter jet shot down earlier that same Friday—a crew member who remains missing as of this report—according to U.S. official sources cited by The New York Times and CBS News. The other person aboard the aircraft has already been rescued, according to these same sources.
