Two US warplanes have been shot over Iran and the Gulf, with two US pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran's forces.
The incidents on Friday show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies.
NBC News reported that US helicopters were struck by Iranian fire as they participated in the search-and-rescue operation. All the service members from the helicopters are safe, NBC News said, citing a US official.
The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian air defences, officials in both countries said.
The second, an A-10 attack aircraft, was hit by Iranian air defences over southern waters near the Hormuz Strait before crashing, according to Iranian state media, which cited the Iranian army. US officials confirmed that the plane had been shot down and said the pilot had been rescued.
The status and whereabouts of the missing F-15E pilot are not publicly known. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was combing an area near where the pilot's plane came down in southwestern Iran and the regional governor promised a commendation for anyone who captured or killed "forces of the hostile enemy".
Iranians, who have been pummelled by American air power for weeks, posted gleeful messages celebrating the plane downings. Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that the US and Israel's war had been "downgraded from regime change" to a hunt for their pilots.
Trump has been in the White House receiving updates on the search-and-rescue operation, a senior administration official told Reuters. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The prospect of a US service person being alive and on the run inside Iran raises the stakes for Washington in a conflict with low public support and no sign of an imminent end.
Iran has officially told mediators it is not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire, led by Pakistan, have reached a dead-end, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The Unied State and Israel opened the campaign with a wave of strikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28. The war has killed thousands of people and threatened lasting damage to the global economy.
So far, 13 US military service members have been killed and more than 300 wounded, according to the US Central Command.
Iran has rained drones and missiles down on Israel. It has also taken aim at Gulf countries allied to the US, which have so far held back from joining the war directly for fear of further escalation.
In a security alert on Friday, the US embassy in Beirut said Iran and its aligned armed groups may target universities in Lebanon and urged US citizens in the country to leave while commercial flights are still available.
Israel has been waging a parallel campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon after the militant group fired at Israel in support of Iran.
On Friday, as Trump threatened to hit its bridges and power plants, Iran struck a power and water plant in Kuwait, underlining the vulnerability of Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination plants for drinking water.