The downing of the American F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet in Iran will not affect the progress of the negotiations between Washington and Tehran, US President Donald Trump told NBC News at the White House.
“No, not at all. No, it is a war. We are at war“, he said.
Tehran earlier rejected the US proposal to observe a 48-hour ceasefire. Meetings of negotiators in Pakistan also did not produce results, as the Iranian leadership does not seek dialogue with Washington.
Iranian air defense forces shot down a US fighter jet in central Iran on April 3. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was an F-35, but CNN and Axios, after reviewing photos of the wreckage published by Iranian media, concluded that it was an F-15.
Initially, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that all US fighter jets in the region were safe. The US military later acknowledged the loss of the aircraft during an operation in the Middle East. The Pentagon did not specify the type of aircraft or where it was shot down.
The F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat all-weather fighter-bomber based on the F-15D trainer. The model entered service with the US Air Force in 1988.
The United States launched a search and rescue operation involving reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters. One of the two pilots was located and evacuated. The condition of the second crew member is unclear, CNN reported. The F-15 crew typically consists of two people: a pilot and a weapons systems officer.
The Iranian side is also conducting a search. The governor of Kohgilueh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces has offered a reward for the pilot's capture, and Iranian football player Mohammad Ansari has offered his medals as a reward.
CNN notes that crew members undergo extensive training not only on how to safely eject, but also on how to survive landing in hostile territory. A two-person crew typically ejects "almost simultaneously" and can be separated by wind and other factors after the parachutes deploy.
White House press secretary Caroline Levitt told the network that the US president has been briefed on the incident. In an interview with NBC News, he declined to discuss details of the search and rescue operations in Iran and expressed disappointment with some media reports about the “obviously sensitive rescue operation“.