Tehran (AFP) – Iranian and American forces were racing each other on Friday to recover the crew of the first US jet that crashed in Iran since the start of the war. US media reported that American special forces had rescued one of the two crew members, while official television in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad aired footage of what appeared to be wreckage of the warplane. The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering a retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.
After what would be the first known loss of a jet inside Iran since Trump ordered the war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president has been briefed.” “An American hostile fighter jet in central Iranian airspace was struck and destroyed by the IRGC Aerospace Force’s advanced air defence system,” said a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s central operational command, Khatam al-Anbiya. “The jet was completely obliterated, and further searches are ongoing.”
An Iranian television reporter on the local official channel said: “Dear and honourable people of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, if you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and bonus.” The report of the downed jet came as fresh strikes hit Israel, Iran, Lebanon, and Gulf countries, with large blasts rocking northern Tehran, an AFP journalist reported. Israel stated it had launched a wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, alongside parallel attacks in Beirut.
Earlier, Israel’s military reported a new missile salvo from Iran, activating its air defences. Strikes by all sides have increasingly targeted economic and industrial sites, raising fears of wider disruption to global energy supplies. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!”, after US strikes damaged Iran’s tallest bridge.
In the area around the bridge, in Karaj, west of Tehran, an AFP reporter saw a villa and residential buildings with blown-out windows — but no military installations. According to the martyrs foundation of Alborz province, which includes Karaj, cited by the official IRNA agency, the attack killed 13 civilians and wounded dozens. About 70 percent of Iran’s steel production capacity has been taken out, Israel reported on Friday. In Abu Dhabi, Iran’s neighbour across the Gulf, metal giant Emirates Global Aluminium stated it could take up to a year before it can resume full production, after its site was damaged by Iranian strikes.
Writing in the US journal Foreign Affairs, Iran’s former foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, argued Tehran should make a deal with Washington to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief. Iran has virtually blocked the key waterway since the war began, where one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas normally passes. Of the few ships that have managed to cross, most have had links to Iran, with sixty percent of commodity-bearing ships crossing the strait either coming from Iran or heading there, an AFP analysis of maritime data showed.
In the first known transit by a major European shipping group since March 1, the Maltese-flagged Kribi, belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM, crossed the strait to exit the Gulf on Thursday, according to Marine Traffic data analysed by AFP. Three other ships, including one co-owned by a Japanese company, crossed on Thursday as commodities carriers saw a 94 percent drop in traffic compared to peace time, according to data from business analysts Kpler.
Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that, in response to Trump’s threats to attack infrastructure, Iran would increase its own attacks on energy sites in the region. A drone attack on a refinery owned by Kuwait’s national oil company on Friday sparked fires at several of its units, state media reported. Later, an Iranian attack damaged a power and desalination complex, Kuwait’s water and electricity ministry confirmed. In Abu Dhabi, a gas complex was shut down after a fire broke out, following an attack that resulted in “falling debris” upon interception, the government media office stated.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah began. It added it would attack two bridges in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region “in order to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment.” Lebanon’s health ministry reported on Thursday that 1,345 people had been killed and 4,040 wounded since the start of the war, including 1,129 men, 91 women, and 125 children. Among these victims are 53 healthcare workers. Hezbollah has yet to announce its losses.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon reported that a blast wounded three peacekeepers, the third such incident in a week. A UNIFIL spokesperson indicated that the origin of the explosion was unknown. The war’s economic impact is rippling far beyond the Middle East, as energy and oil costs surge. At a protest in Lahore, Pakistan, over fuel price hikes, Naveed Ahmed, 39, told AFP: “The government, overnight, has dropped a ‘petrol bomb’ on its people.”
Meanwhile, the White House sent a spending proposal to lawmakers calling for a massive hike to the US defence budget. While it remains unclear what Congress will ultimately approve, US media reported the $1.5 trillion budget request — a 42 percent hike — would be the largest year-on-year increase in Pentagon spending since World War II.
© 2024 AFP
