Iran downs second US jet; music, barbecues in Tehran
File: A US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the Warthog. Photo by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot / US AIR FORCE / AFP.
Iran’s military said Friday it had downed a second US jet in the Gulf, state TV reported, after an F-15 fighter had crashed in the country’s southwest.
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“An American A10 aircraft, hit by the air defence systems of the Army’s Air Defence Force, crashed into the Persian Gulf,” broadcaster IRIB reported, citing the military.
Meanhwile, Iranian and American forces are racing each other to recover the crew of the first US jet crashed in Iran since the start of the war, as Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 fighter.
US media reported American special forces had rescued one of two crew members. And official television in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad aired footage of what appeared to be wreckage of the warplane.
The war erupted more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering a retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.
After what would be the first known loss of a jet inside Iran since Trump ordered the war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “The president has been briefed”.
Party in Terhan
In a leafy Tehran park on Thursday, Iranians gathered for picnics on the final day of the Persian new year holidays, shrugging off US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages”.
The country has been at war for more than a month and Trump – who launched the conflict alongside Israel on February 28 – has vowed to strike Iran hard for another “two or three weeks”.
Powerful blasts shook the Iranian capital on Thursday.
Still, hundreds of families sat out under mild, cloudy skies, picnicking amid sweeping views of the snow-capped Alborz mountains – a postcard scene at odds with a city under regular attack.
Thursday marked the 13th and final day of the Persian new year festivities, known as Sizdah‑bedar or Nature Day.
Tradition calls for spending the day outdoors to ward off bad luck.
“We must keep this ritual alive under all circumstances, even in the current situation and despite the distress we feel,” Roya Abhari, 39, told AFP.
“I saw President Trump’s message, and wondered: will Iran really go back to the Stone Age in two or three weeks?”
She had come to the park alone to “to be around people, recharge and feel better”.
On an embroidered picnic laid out on the grass, a group of friends chatted over tea as food simmered gently on a gas stove.
Nearby, a man fanned skewers sizzling on a barbecue grill while a couple played badminton and retirees sang cheerfully on a park bench.
“It (war) doesn’t disrupt anything at all for us. We are living a normal life… We are not afraid of war,” said metalworker, Hakim Rahimi, 43.
But the joyful scenes were far from the reality of the war, with blasts rocking neighbourhoods and families mourning the dead elsewhere in the city.
That morning, strikes heavily damaged a century-old medical centre in the capital.
Tehran’s many parks, usually green lungs in a metropolis often choked by pollution, have become refuges since the fighting began.
Joggers, cyclists and casual strollers still flock to them daily, despite the risk of bombardment.
But Iran’s threat on Thursday of “crushing” retaliation if US strikes intensify renewed fears of escalation in a conflict rippling across the region and global markets.
“I hope God gives our soldiers strength every day,” said housewife Parastou Safiani.