US fighter jet shot down over Iran

{"text":[[{"start":12.59,"text":"Iran shot down a US fighter jet over its territory for the first time in the five-week war, marking a major escalation in a conflict that has destabilised economies across the world and unleashed an energy crisis. "}],[{"start":28.73,"text":"One crew member of the downed American F-15E jet was recovered in a search-and-rescue operation on Friday, people familiar with the matter said. The second is still missing, with search efforts continuing."}],[{"start":43.88,"text":"Two people with knowledge of the US search operation said an American rescue helicopter sustained fire."}],[{"start":51.010000000000005,"text":"President Donald Trump was briefed on the incident, the White House said. But Trump, who posted twice on social media on Friday about his wish to “take” Iran’s oil, made no public statement about the downed F-15E jet or the rescue operation."}],[{"start":67.81,"text":"A second American warplane, an A-10 attack jet, was also lost on Friday, according to two people familiar with the matter. The pilot was rescued, said one of the people. The plane went down near the Strait of Hormuz, the other person said."}],[{"start":85.16,"text":"The circumstances surrounding the loss of the A-10 were not immediately clear, but Iran’s military said its air defences had hit the plane. "}],[{"start":95.09,"text":"The attack jets, which have been hitting Iranian targets around the strait for weeks, are a standard part of the Air Force’s combat search and rescue operations."}],[{"start":106.14,"text":"Asked by NBC News on Friday if Iran’s actions would negatively affect any negotiations to end the war, Trump said, “No, not at all. No, it’s war.”"}],[{"start":118.34,"text":"The downing of the F-15E is the first known combat loss of a US or Israeli fighter jet since the two countries launched their war against Iran on February 28. "}],[{"start":131.38,"text":"It marks a significant blow to the US war effort and comes just two days after Trump said in a primetime television speech that America had “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and was on track to complete all of its military objectives there “very shortly”."}],[{"start":148.91,"text":"The shooting down of the F-15E jet came as Iran continued to fire on targets across the Middle East, despite Trump’s claims that the Islamic republic’s military capabilities had been all but destroyed."}],[{"start":162.75,"text":"Abu Dhabi said on Friday that one Egyptian national was killed in fires caused by falling debris at its Habshan gas facilities, following the interception of an Iranian air strike. Kuwait also reported damage to a power and water desalination plant after an attack."}],[{"start":182.55,"text":"Trump has given mixed signals about the war in recent days, at certain points vowing to end it soon and at other times threatening to escalate it. "}],[{"start":194.10000000000002,"text":"In the TV speech, he said that, if there were no deal with Iran in the next two to three weeks, he would “hit every one of their electric-generating plants”. Meanwhile, Iran’s leaders have said there have been no negotiations to end the conflict."}],[{"start":211.55,"text":"Since the early days of the war Iran has blocked off the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Tanker traffic through the strait has slowed to a trickle and the price of gasoline in the US is now averaging more than $4 a gallon. "}],[{"start":233.99,"text":"Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, said on Friday that US forces had searched for the pilot of the downed F-15E jet using Black Hawk helicopters, a C-130 Hercules aircraft and drones. "}],[{"start":251.62,"text":"US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, declined to comment. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

• A person holds a large, damaged metallic fragment of wreckage in a rocky, desert landscape with sparse bushes.
• A piece of scorched and twisted wreckage with metal panels and wiring lies on rocky ground.

"}],[{"start":259.4,"text":"Iranian state media published images purporting to show the scattered debris of the F-15E, including its ejected pilot seat, and said the Revolutionary Guards had shot down the “advanced fighter jet” in the south-western province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. "}],[{"start":278.89,"text":"Tasnim urged local residents to patrol the plains and mountains of the region “with the weapons they possess” in preparation for a possible confrontation with US rescue teams. "}],[{"start":292.37,"text":"The FT could not immediately verify the images published by Iranian state media but NR Jenzen-Jones, director of technical intelligence consultancy Armament Research Services, said the debris pictured “would identify the aircraft as a US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle”. He said the available evidence was insufficient to indicate that the aircraft was shot down, just that it had crashed."}],[{"start":321.1,"text":"Any capture by Iran of a member of the US military would mark a pivotal moment in the war and give the Islamic republic a potentially crucial point of leverage."}],[{"start":333.53000000000003,"text":"The seizure of US service members in the past has been linked to some of the most notorious incidents in American warfighting, and Washington’s military policy has long prioritised the rescue of missing and captured personnel."}],[{"start":350.17,"text":"The downing of two US helicopters and the capture of an American Black Hawk pilot in Somalia in 1993 in effect spelled the end of a months-long military operation by Washington to capture a brutal Somali warlord. It ultimately led to a full US withdrawal from the country. "}],[{"start":371.12,"text":"In 2009, the US military launched a sprawling manhunt in Afghanistan after American soldier Bowe Bergdahl walked off his base and was captured by the Taliban. After five years, the Obama administration freed five high-level Taliban prisoners in exchange for Bergdahl’s release."}],[{"start":392.2,"text":"In the current conflict, the Revolutionary Guards claimed on March 19 that one of their air-defence systems had struck a US F-35 fighter jet over central Iran, damaging the aircraft. The US military later said the jet carried out an emergency landing in an unspecified location after a combat mission over Iran."}],[{"start":415.5,"text":"At least 13 US service members have been killed in the war, including six in an office facility in Kuwait and a further six in a refuelling aircraft crash."}],[{"start":427.33,"text":"Additional reporting by Andrew England and Sam Joiner in London, James Politi in Washington and Guy Chazan in New York"}],[{"start":445.04,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1775272125_5420.mp3"}