Read our editorials on the US-Israeli war on Iran here and here.
Iranian forces shot down multiple US aircraft and repelled a failed US incursion near Isfahan between April 3–4, dealing a significant blow to US claims of air superiority.
On April 3, Iranian air defenses shot down a US F-15E fighter jet over its territory. Monopoly media report it is the first time a US warplane has been shot down by “enemy fire” in over 20 years.
The fighter jet crew ejected into Iran, with a race ensuing between the US and Iran to retrieve the soldiers.
Iranian forces shot down another US combat plane, an A-10 Warthog, sent in as part of the rescue mission for the F-15E crew.
The same day, tribal fighters from Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad and Bakhtiari provinces struck two US Black Hawk helicopters, injuring personnel onboard, and preventing enemy helicopters from securing the area. Iranian reports claim additional US losses, including two MC-130J Commando II special operations planes.
While the US managed to rescue its forces, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said the operation “failed miserably,” with wreckage and other evidence on the ground showing the US paid a steep cost.
Iranian officials also called into question the stated objective of the incursion. The reported landing zone was far from the alleged location of the downed pilot, prompting speculation that the US may have aimed to seize enriched uranium stockpiles. Analysts note that the scale and composition of the US deployment, particularly the use of specialized MC-130J aircraft, suggest ambitions beyond a basic extraction mission.
Iranian military spokesman Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Zolfaghari reported Iran used newly produced, domestically built air defense systems to destroy the US aircraft. Iranian media claim these systems have hit drones, cruise missiles, and even next-generation F-35 fighter jets, widely portrayed as indestructible by the imperialists.
The events expose the weakening position of US imperialism in the war and the lies spun by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Ten days into the US-Israeli war on Iran, Hegseth claimed, “Iran has no air defenses.” During a prime-time address last Wednesday, Trump said about Iran, “They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated.” He also claimed the US had already won the war while simultaneously calling for the escalation of its genocidal campaign, threatening to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”
Baghaei called the Isfahan incursion a “blatant violation of sovereignty” and emphasized the role of popular resistance in defeating it. “When Iran’s sovereignty is targeted, all Iranians stand united,” he said.
Iranian officials have compared the fiasco to the 1980 Eagle Claw mission, a disastrous US attempt to rescue prisoners of war in Iran.
Photo: Destroyed US aircraft in Iran. Retrieved from social media.
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