A US Air Drive Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aerial-refuelling plane flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026.
Jack Guez | Afp | Getty Pictures
The U.S. navy mentioned Thursday {that a} KC-135 navy refueling airplane was misplaced whereas flying over Iraq in an incident that was “not on account of hostile or enemy fireplace.”
The U.S. Central Command mentioned in a press release that the incident concerned two plane and occurred in pleasant airspace. One of many plane went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely, it added.
“The incident occurred in pleasant airspace throughout Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing, the the U.S. Central Command mentioned, referring to the struggle in opposition to Iran, which led to retaliatory strikes by Tehran throughout the Center East.
It was unclear what number of U.S. service members had been on board the KC-135 refueling plane that crashed.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a gaggle of militias within the nation backed by Iran, claimed accountability for the downing of the U.S. plane in a press release posted on its Telegram channel.
That is the fourth reported plane loss because the Iran struggle began, after three F-15 fighters had been shot down by pleasant fireplace from Kuwait’s air defenses.
The KC-135, which value $39.6 million in 1998 in response to the U.S. Air Drive, is generally used to refuel different plane in mid-air.
U.S. will likely be ‘sorry’
The plane loss comes as Iran’s safety chief, Ali Larijani, mentioned Tehran would make the U.S. “sorry” for beginning the struggle in Iran.
“Trump says he’s in search of a speedy victory. Whereas beginning a struggle is simple, it can’t be received with just a few tweets,” Larijani mentioned in a submit on X early Friday.
His assertion adopted remarks by Iran’s new supreme chief, Mojtaba Khamenei, that the Strait of Hormuz maritime passage ought to stay closed as a “device to stress the enemy.”
Khamenei additionally mentioned all U.S. navy bases within the Center East ought to shut instantly and warned that “these bases will likely be attacked,” in televised feedback translated by Reuters.
Regardless of U.S. President Donald Trump claiming that “we received” in Iran and that the struggle will finish “very quickly,” extra overseas ships had been struck within the Persian Gulf on Thursday.
Iran additionally warned that oil costs might climb to $200 a barrel, accusing the U.S. of destabilising regional safety, Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran’s navy command, mentioned Wednesday, in response to Reuters.
— CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
