Iran’s propaganda machine claims chilling video shows strike on $100m US jet just hours after Trump declared: ‘Nobody is even shooting at us’

Iran’s military declared a symbolic victory on Thursday by releasing footage showing a US F-35 stealth fighter jet being shot down by anti-aircraft artillery.

A black-and-white video shows a US jet being hit by a missile before the footage abruptly ends. This will be the first time an American F-35 has been successfully hit by enemy fire in combat.

US Central Command confirmed that the warplane had to make an emergency landing after sources said it was shot down by Iran.

“The plane landed safely and the pilot is in stable condition,” said Captain Tim Hawkins. It is not yet known whether the pilot was injured.

Less than an hour after the plane was shot down, Donald Trump told reporters that Iran’s anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed, adding: ‘Nobody’s even shooting at us.’

The attack on the $100 million state-of-the-art warplane came at a dangerous moment in the war, when Trump last night criticized Israel for attacks on Iranian gas fields that have set the Gulf on fire and sparked retaliatory strikes on America’s Arab allies.

Iran’s bombardment continued on Thursday, with drones attacking a major oil refinery in the Israeli city of Haifa, causing further market turmoil.

While US crude oil rose by 4.9 percent, global benchmark Brent crude oil rose to $118 per barrel. 60 percent since the beginning of the war.

This marks the first time an American F-35 has been successfully hit by enemy fire in combat

A US F-35 stealth fighter jet costing more than $100 million was shot down by Iran on Thursday and was forced to make an emergency landing at a US air base.

Less than an hour after the plane was shot down, Donald Trump told reporters that Iran’s anti-aircraft guns had been destroyed, adding: ‘Nobody’s even shooting at us.’

It is not yet known whether the jet pilot was injured in the incident.

As the war enters its 19th day, Iran has launched multiple attacks on major oil refineries in the Gulf and closed a Saudi oil port on the Red Sea.

The Trump administration continues to claim that the war was a great success.

Pete Hegseth had previously told a press conference at the Pentagon that Ian’s air defenses had been completely ‘flattened’ by US-Israeli attacks.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said that US forces continue to attack deeper into Iranian territory with warplanes hunting Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz and helicopters shooting down Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles.

Caine said that the US military also dropped 5,000-pound bombs on underground weapons storage facilities.

However, while the duo was addressing journalists at the Pentagon, the images on TV screens showed smoke rising over oil and gas depots in the region, causing panic on Wall Street.

A ship was set on fire off the coast of the United Arab Emirates and another was damaged off the coast of Qatar; An Iranian drone crashed into a Saudi refinery on the Red Sea, which the country hopes to use as an alternative exit route.

Following Iran’s latest dam, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen admitted that the power grid in northern Israel had suffered some damage. He said teams have restored electricity to some areas and are working to restore it in others.

Iran’s air defenses have been completely “flattened” by the US-Israeli strikes, Hegseth said at a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.

Iran’s air defenses have been completely “flattened” by the US-Israeli strikes, Hegseth said at a press conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.

Hegseth told reporters that the US military ‘controls’ Iran’s destiny.

‘Iran has the ability to make the right choices,’ he said, adding that Tehran ‘going forward should not target its Arab allies, Arab countries, should not try to create pain that they have created themselves.’

The Trump administration has touted several war goals, including weakening Iran’s missile capabilities and nuclear program. The killing of senior leaders has also been a priority for the United States and Israel.

Hegseth suggested more leaders could be targeted, specifically citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij force, a powerful internal security unit whose leader was killed by Israel earlier this week.

‘The last job in the world that anyone wants right now is senior leader of the Revolutionary Guard or Basij, temporary jobs, all of them,’ Hegseth said.

Among the Iranian energy facilities hit in recent days was the Bushehr nuclear power plant complex. The International Atomic Energy Agency said there were no injuries and no damage to the facility.

Israel said on Thursday it had struck Iranian targets in the Caspian Sea for the first time. Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the strikes hit dozens of targets, including ships, a shipyard and a command center.

The Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in additional funding for the Iran war, a senior administration official said.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41 taxis on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on Wednesday

American sailors observing F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 31 approach the flight deck of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), during Operation Epic Fury.

Hegseth holds a briefing with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the US-Israeli war against Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, March 19

An Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fired a rocket while flying along the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The department sent the request to the White House, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private information.

Israel targeted one of Iran’s critical gas fields in South Pars on Wednesday.

According to the International Energy Agency, 80 percent of the electricity produced in Iran comes from natural gas, and the attack directly threatens the country’s electricity supply. Natural gas is also used for home heating and cooking throughout the Islamic Republic.

“Israel’s selection of targets in this war focused heavily on institutions, leaders, and infrastructure,” the New York-based Soufan Center said in a research note. ‘It is now seeking to put additional pressure on the regime by making living conditions for civilians intolerable.’

Iran condemned the attack on South Pars and President Masoud Pezeshkian warned of ‘uncontrollable consequences’ that could ‘envelop the whole world’.

In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday night, Trump accused Israel of ‘lashing out’ and claimed the US ‘knew nothing about the attack’ that resulted in the bombing of Arab energy fields.

Trump has previously asked Israel to refrain from attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure as it faces critical midterm elections in November and as concerns about rising oil prices grow.

America’s Arab allies were angry at Israel’s attack and the United States’ failure to prevent it.

A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151 flies aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during Operation Epic Fury

Smoke rises from Mina Oil facility in Oman’s Salalah Port on Monday

Inside a destroyed apartment, with the Tel Aviv skyline in the background, following Iran’s overnight missile attack on Thursday

A fireball rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike targeting a building in Beirut’s Basura neighborhood early Wednesday

Trump speaks with Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, as he leaves the White House on March 18

Trump said Israel will not attack South Pars again. But he warned on social media that if Iran continued to attack Qatar’s energy infrastructure, the US would retaliate and massively blow up the entire site.

“I do not want to allow this level of violence and destruction because of the long-term consequences it will have on the future of Iran,” Trump said on social media.

More than 1,300 people were killed in Iran during the war. Israeli attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people – about 20 percent of the population – according to the Lebanese government, which said more than 1,000 people were killed. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militants.

15 people died in an Iranian missile attack in Israel. Four people were killed in an overnight Iranian missile strike in the occupied West Bank, according to officials.

At least 13 US soldiers were killed.

Iran announced the execution of three people detained during nationwide protests in January, the judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported; This was the first sentence known to have been carried out.