- The plane landed safely on a US base; pilot reported in stable condition.
- This comes amid an ongoing conflict involving a US-Israeli offensive against Iran.
- Several U.S. aircraft losses have been reported, but none previously linked to Iranian fire.
A US F-35 stealth warplane was hit by suspected Iranian fire and made an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East, US media reported on Thursday.
“The aircraft landed safely and the pilot is in stable condition,” Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command, said in a statement, without confirming reports from media outlets including ABC and CNN.
“This incident remains under investigation,” Hawkins added.
The United States lost several planes during the conflict – including three F-15s mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti forces and a KC-135 refueling plane that crashed in Iraq – but none were hit by Iranian fire.
The United States and Israel have launched a massive air campaign against Iran following a significant buildup of American military forces – including F-35s – in the region.
Thirteen American service members have been killed since the operation began on February 28: six in the KC-135 crash and seven in Iranian attacks at the start of the war.
About 200 U.S. service members have also been injured in seven Middle Eastern countries since the war began, most of whom have already returned to duty, according to the U.S. military.
Meanwhile, a U.S. official and three others close to the plan told Reuters that Trump is considering sending thousands more U.S. troops to the Middle East as a war that has so far claimed more than 2,000 lives continues to rage.
But on Thursday, Trump said he had no plans to deploy ground forces. “I’m not sending troops anywhere,” he said.
Netanyahu said later Thursday that Israel acted alone in bombing Iran’s South Pars gas field and confirmed that Trump had asked Israel to suspend such attacks.
Iran is “decimated” and no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles after 20 days of U.S.-Israeli air attacks, but a revolution in the country would not come from the air and would require a “ground component,” he said, without elaborating.
As the Israeli leader spoke, Iran launched a new wave of missiles toward his country, according to the Israeli military and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
