March 19 (UPI) -- A U.S. F-35 aircraft made an emergency landing after a combat mission over Iran on Thursday, with Iranian forces taking credit for hitting it.
If the claim is correct, this would be the first U.S. aircraft that Iran has hit since the United States and Israel launched a war on the nation's regime nearly four weeks ago.
The United States has lost a handful of aircraft in the war, including one crash that claimed the lives of six U.S. servicemembers, but none have been hit by Iran.
"We are aware of reports that a U.S. F-35 aircraft conducted an emergency landing at a regional U.S. airbase after flying a combat mission over Iran," U.S. Central Command Spokesperson U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins told UPI in a statement.
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