US fighter jet shot down – no negotiated solution in sight

Iran war

US fighter jet shot down – no negotiated solution in sight

New attacks, no rapprochement: While the US searches for missing pilots, hope for peace in the Iran war remains vague.

Five weeks after the start of the Iran war, mutual attacks continue unabated. According to consistent media reports, the US government confirmed that a fighter jet was shot down over Iran. The American military has launched a rescue operation to find the crew before Iranian soldiers can get to the pilots, the New York Times reported, citing American and Israeli government sources.

A search is underway for two crew members, reports the Washington Post. It would be the first loss of a US combat aircraft since the war began in March. It is unclear whether the crew survived. A tanker plane and two HH-60G helicopters are involved in the search in western Iran, reports the Washington Post.

Iran’s armed forces had previously reported the shooting down of an F-35 fighter jet. The fighter jet was shot down in central airspace by a new advanced defense system, the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.

The Tasnim news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, reported in the early evening (local time) from research by its local reporters that US forces were using several Black Hawk helicopters, a Hercules C-130 and using reconnaissance drones to search for the crew of a fighter jet that was shot down in the morning (local time).

On Iranian state radio, a presenter read out a call to residents of the southern province of Kohgiluje and Bojer Ahmad to track down the enemy pilots and offered the prospect of a reward.

Despite violent threats from US President Donald Trump, a negotiated solution to end the war is still not in sight. Iran should agree to a deal before it is too late and there is nothing left of the country, Trump threatened on Friday night after the bombing of an important highway bridge near Tehran on Thursday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced further joint attacks with the USA on Iran’s infrastructure on Friday afternoon, among other things. “Together with our American friends, we continue to dismantle the terrorist regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructure,” Netanyahu said in a video distributed by his office during a situation assessment.

Trump emphasized: “The new leadership of the regime knows what needs to be done.” And that has to happen quickly, said Trump – probably with a view to a hoped-for negotiated solution. In Tehran, a new wave of attacks shook the metropolis in the afternoon. Eyewitnesses reported explosions.

Trump is putting the Iranian leadership under time pressure with his threats, while at the same time he announced that he wanted to end the war in two to three weeks. The leadership of the Islamic Republic is likely to celebrate a possible end to the war without a negotiated solution and concessions as a great victory – regardless of massive damage and many victims in the country.