WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s war on Iran got considerably more complicated Friday after a U.S. fighter jet was shot down.
Two Air Force crew members ejected from their F-15, causing the U.S. to launch a risky search-and-rescue operation inside Iran. One of the two was reported rescued hours later, while the other remained missing.
The incident calls into question claims by both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that Iran no longer has the ability to threaten U.S. aircraft.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force,” Trump bragged from the White House on Wednesday night in his first major speech about the war. Last month, Hegseth declared the U.S. had achieved “total air dominance,” suggesting aircraft could strike with impunity.
Saturday marks the start of the sixth week of the war, which is already one more than the “four to five week” estimate Trump provided at the start. On Wednesday, he offered no guidance as to when and how he would end it other than threatening that if Tehran does not agree to his terms, he would bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”
