A United States F-35 stealth warplane was reportedly struck by suspected Iranian fire and forced to make an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East, according to American media reports on Thursday.
A spokesperson for United States Central Command, Captain Tim Hawkins, confirmed that the aircraft landed safely and that the pilot is in stable condition, though he did not verify the cause of the incident. He added that the situation is currently under investigation.
During the ongoing conflict, the US has already lost several aircraft, including three F-15 Eagle jets accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti forces, as well as a KC-135 Stratotanker that crashed in Iraq. However, no previous aircraft losses have been officially linked to Iranian fire.
The escalation follows a large-scale air campaign launched by the US and Israel against Iran after a significant US military buildup in the region, which included deploying F-35 jets.
Since the operation began on February 28, 13 US service members have been killed, six in the KC-135 crash and seven in Iranian attacks early in the conflict. Around 200 US personnel have also been wounded across multiple countries in the region, though most have since returned to duty.
According to sources cited by Reuters, Donald Trump has considered sending thousands of additional troops to the Middle East as the conflict, which has claimed over 2,000 lives, continues. However, he later stated that there are no current plans to deploy ground forces.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel independently carried out a strike on Iran’s South Pars gas field and noted that Trump had asked Israel to delay such actions.
Netanyahu also claimed that Iran has been severely weakened by nearly three weeks of US-Israeli airstrikes, stating that it no longer has the capability to enrich uranium or produce ballistic missiles.
However, he added that any internal political change in Iran would require ground operations rather than airstrikes alone.
At the same time, Iran launched another wave of missiles targeting Israel, according to both Israeli military officials and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
