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Iran's state television offered a reward Friday for the live capture of a downed American fighter pilot.
Armed tribesmen and villagers fanned out across the mountains of southwestern Iran to search for the aviator, in what, if confirmed, would be the first time since the war began that a U.S. jet was shot down by enemy fire.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down the aircraft over central Iran using its air defense systems on Friday morning.
Iranian state media released photos and videos allegedly showing crash site debris, including aircraft parts and what appeared to be an ejection seat.
A local television channel in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province broadcast an announcement urging residents to cooperate in the search. "If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize," the anchor read.
The channel initially instructed viewers to "shoot them as soon as you see them," but subsequently changed the guidance based on a police statement, requesting that any downed American pilots be handed over alive to security agencies.
Tasnim news agency reported that residents of the province, particularly nomadic tribesmen and villagers, deployed across mountains and plains with personal weapons to search for potential American military personnel.
"The people of the province, especially tribesmen and villagers, have taken up personal weapons to patrol and search across the province's mountains and plains, ready to fight enemy forces if encountered," Tasnim reported.
The agency said the hunt intensified after reports that the U.S. attempted a rescue operation using Black Hawk helicopters, a C-130 military cargo aircraft and reconnaissance drones, but that the effort had failed.
Tasnim reported that the area being searched by American aircraft suggested the U.S. did not know the pilot's precise location and was searching through alternative means, as fighter pilots are typically connected to GPS systems that transmit their position upon ejection.
Initial assessments based on the released imagery suggested the aircraft may have been an F-15 fighter jet. Axios, citing Iranian media and a source familiar with the incident, reported that if confirmed, it would be the first time since the beginning of the war that a U.S. jet was downed by enemy fire.
The semi-official Tasnim agency reported earlier that the pilot may have used an ejection seat and landed within Iranian territory.
Iran had previously claimed Friday morning that it downed a second F-35 stealth fighter, releasing separate wreckage images, though that claim also remains unverified.
Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true, though Friday marked the first time state television broadcast a public appeal for help hunting a suspected downed pilot.
U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon and the White House had not yet announced anything at the time of reporting.
Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is approximately 500 kilometers southwest of Tehran. Its provincial capital is Yasuj. The intensely rural, mountainous area is home to around 600,000 people, primarily from Iran's Lur community, many of whom are farmers. The extreme south of the province marks the beginning of Iran's oil fields.
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