Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced Friday that it successfully intercepted and destroyed a second US F-35 stealth fighter jet over central Iran.
This incident marks a sharp escalation in the six-week-old regional conflict known as Operation Epic Fury.
According to a statement from the IRGC’s aerospace force, the advanced aircraft was targeted by a newly developed indigenous air defense system.
Officials reported that the jet suffered a “massive explosion on impact” leading the IRGC to conclude that “the pilot is unlikely to have ejected” or survived the crash.
The claim directly challenges US Central Command (CENTCOM) which previously dismissed similar reports maintaining that “All US fighter aircraft are accounted for.”
In a defiant response to the Pentagon’s narrative, Iranian state media Press TV posted a viral social media update mockingly asserting that the missing multimillion-dollar jet is indeed accounted for but “In fragments.”
While Tehran has released images of scattered debris to support its claims, independent analysts and US officials have yet to verify the wreckage.
If confirmed, this would be the first verified combat loss of an F-35 to enemy fire, significantly shifting the tactical landscape of the ongoing war.
