IRGC Reports 'Historic Battle' in Downing US, Israeli Aerial Assets

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: IRGC

IRGC says Iranian air defenses successfully downed US and Israeli drones, cruise missiles, and a fighter jet, warning that hostile aircraft face increasing risks in Iran’s airspace.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said its air defense forces carried out a “historic operation” in the country’s skies, downing multiple US and Israeli aerial assets.

In a statement, the IRGC said Iran’s air defenses “wrote a historic epic in an enduring battle,” describing the day as a “black day for the US Air Force and the Zionist entity” over Iranian airspace.

According to the statement, IRGC Aerospace Force units successfully intercepted and destroyed:

Two cruise missiles over Khomein and Zanjan

Two MQ-9 attack drones over Isfahan

One Hermes drone over Bushehr

The interceptions were carried out using what the IRGC described as an advanced air defense system operating under Iran’s integrated national air defense network.

Advanced fighter jet downed

The IRGC also announced earlier that its aerospace air defense units successfully shot down an advanced fighter jet belonging to the "aggressive enemy" in central Iran.

According to Iranian media, a US fighter jet was shot down over Iran, with American forces launching a search-and-rescue operation in central parts of the country. An unnamed US official confirmed the incident to Reuters.

Iran later confirmed it had downed a US A-10 aircraft near the Strait of Hormuz.

The statement concluded by emphasizing that continued surveillance and defensive operations by Iranian forces would make the country’s airspace increasingly dangerous for hostile aircraft.

"With sustained, innovative, and precise monitoring by Iran’s air defense forces, the skies over Iran will become more insecure than ever for enemy fighters", the statement said. 

US fighter jet shootdown exposes limits of air superiority: CNN

The shootdown of a US F-15E Strike Eagle over Iran marks a significant shift in the trajectory of the war on Iran, analyst Matthew Chance says, noting that it exposes the growing vulnerability of American forces and the limits of Washington’s claims of air superiority.

CNN’s analysis describes the incident as the first confirmed case of a US warplane being brought down over Iranian territory since the start of the war, a development widely seen as a turning point in the war.

The episode unfolded alongside a broader pattern of operational setbacks. Around the same time, a US A-10 Thunderbolt II went down near the Strait of Hormuz, with US officials providing limited details on the circumstances, while Iranian authorities said the aircraft had been tracked and targeted by its integrated air defense systems.

Trump's response

In an earlier post the same day, Trump said the United States could take a more aggressive approach to the region’s energy resources.

The US President wrote that "we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE. IT WOULD BE A 'GUSHER' FOR THE WORLD???"

The Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route that typically carries about one-fifth of global oil trade, has been heavily disrupted amid the US-Israeli aggression on Iran.

Despite US-Israeli aggression and repeated claims from Trump that Iran’s military capabilities have been severely weakened, Iranian authorities maintain control over domestic infrastructure and continue to conduct operations in defense of the country and its people.

This comes as the US and "Israel" are escalating aggression on civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, medical facilities, power facilities, and transport links.