f35 shot down by Iran? Here's what Tehran is saying about U.S. fighter jet

Iran has claimed that a U.S. fighter jet has been shot down. Iran's revolutionary guards said they had attacked and 'damaged' a U.S. f-35 fighter jet, as per reports. So far, at least 13 U.S. military members have been killed in the ongoing war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.

More than 1,300 people in Iran have been killed during the war. Israeli strikes against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people — roughly 20% of the population — according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 1,000 people have been killed. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militants.

In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. Four people were also killed in the occupied West Bank overnight by an Iranian missile strike, according to officials.


Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on February 28, Iran’s top leaders have been killed in airstrikes and the country’s military capabilities have been severely degraded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles.

Still, Iran — now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the war’s opening salvo — remains capable of missile and drone attacks rattling its Gulf Arab neighbors and a global economy dependent on the energy they produce.

Iran intensified its attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE denounced the Iranian attacks. Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit called them a “dangerous escalation.”

But Iran showed no signs of backing down. Saudi Arabia said its SAMREF refinery in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu was hit. Saudi Arabia had begun pumping large volumes of oil west toward the Red Sea to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar, a key source of natural gas for world markets, said extensive damage was caused by Iranian missiles hitting the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, where production had already been halted after earlier attacks. Damage to the facility could delay Qatar's ability to get supplies to the market even after the war ends.

Two oil refineries in Kuwait and gas operations in Abu Dhabi also were targeted by Iran, local authorities said.