Iranian military scrambles to locate missing American pilot after warplane crash

Iranian army chief Amir Hatami

Iran’s Fars news agency said Friday the army had launched a search for the pilot of a US fighter jet hit by an air defence system.

Contacted by AFP, the US Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for military operations in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Military forces have launched a search operation to find the American fighter pilot who was hit earlier today,” Fars said.

A local television station aired footage of what it said was wreckage of a downed US jet.

It said the aircraft was targeted over central Iran and may have gone down in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, citing a police statement.

The statement urged residents of the area to join the hunt for the pilot or pilots, offering a bounty for the capture of any US servicemen.

The incident is the first report of a US fighter jet being downed in Iranian territory since the United States and Israel launched its war on the Islamic republic on February 28.

AFP