Free Republic

American officials confirmed that an American fighter jet was shot down in Iran, the New York Times reported today (Friday). Since this morning, Arab and Iranian media outlets have reported heavy traffic of helicopters and low-altitude refueling planes in the Khuzestan province area in southwestern Iran, claiming that they are trying to locate a pilot or two pilots of an F-15 plane, which was allegedly shot down this morning in central Iran. According to an Israeli source, one of the American crew members who was shot down in Iran was rescued alive. The plane that was shot down is an...

F-35 Fighter jets and a C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft are seen flying over central Iran, reportedly near the crash site of the F-15E, although the terrain does not match the images of the crash site. Iranian state media is now calling on local tribes to capture any surviving pilots to receive a "valuable reward".

A container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, MarineTraffic vessel tracking data shows, in a sign that Iran may not consider France a hostile nation. The Malta-flagged Kribi, owned by CMA CGM, crossed the Strait on April 2. It is the first French-owned vessel to make it through the channel since US-Israeli attacks began on Iran at the end of February. Until the war led to the effective closure of the Strait, it was the route for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. It was not...