U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied claims circulating online of the loss of another F-15E Strike Eagle, this time over enemy territory, as part of ongoing operations against Iran. Earlier this week, three Strike Eagles were downed in an apparent friendly fire incident, reportedly by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet. All of this comes as the U.S.-Israeli air campaign continued to expand, and as the overall conflict has otherwise spilled further through the region.
You can catch up with our latest coverage of ongoing operations against Iran here.
“Rumors circulating on social media of a U.S. F-15E crash in Iran early Wednesday are baseless and NOT TRUE,” CENTCOM stated on X Thursday morning.
A CENTCOM spokesperson also told TWZ directly that there have been no aircraft downed other than those in Kuwait.
The denial came after a now-deleted post from the popular @sentdefender account on X claiming a F-15E had gone down went viral, with at least nearly 800,000 views. The post said the aircraft had gone down during a strike mission over southwestern Iran, but said the proximate cause was unknown. The Strike Eagles were said to have been able to eject safely and were then recovered in a joint U.S.-Israeli combat search and rescue mission. Claims about the loss had already been swirling amongst the open-source community.
“We have made the decision to delete reports made last night regarding the crash of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran and the successful evacuation of the crewmembers by U.S. and Israeli Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR),” the account wrote in a new post today. “Defender Media maintains confidence in its sources, however, the story is as of now being officially and publicly denied by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).”
TWZ has reached out to @sentdefender for further comment.
This is not the first time CENTCOM has taken part in the online information war that has become standard for conflicts in the social media era. Yesterday, the command took to X to refute several claims made by Iran about killing 100 Marines, sinking a destroyer, taking down other aircraft, and forcing U.S. troops to withdraw from the conflict.
“ALL LIES,” CENTCOM stated in its post.
What is true is that the U.S.-Israeli air war over Iran is expanding and includes an increasing number of aircraft employing stand-in munitions closer to their targets. Potential risks can only be magnified, at least to a degree, as operations push deeper into Iran. There is always the potential for aircraft to go down for reasons other than enemy fire, as well.
The rest of our ongoing rolling coverage of the conflict continues below, with the latest updates at the top.
UPDATE: 3:45 PM EST –
“We are now moving to the next phase of the campaign, in which we will increase the damage to the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities,” IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has said in a statement. “We have additional surprising moves, which I do not intend to reveal. We will pursue our enemies, all of them, and we will find them.”
“The Israeli Air Force has carried out 2,500 strikes and dropped over 6,000 munitions,” Zamir also said. “We have neutralized and destroyed more than 60 percent of the ballistic missile launchers” and 80 percent of Iran’s air defense systems.
The IDF continues to release footage from strikes in Iran and Lebanon.
The IDF says its aircraft collectively flew more than 7,000 flight hours and struck more than 750 targets in the first 100 hours of Operation Roaring Lion.
The videos below are said to show a major strike in Iran’s Bushehr region earlier in the week. There are reports that Bushehr Air Base was the target.
The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released a new tally of interceptions of Iranian missiles and drones in the course of the conflict so far. The country’s forces have downed 196 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles, and 1,072 drones, per the latest data.
There are reports of a drone attack in Iraq’s Duhok province near an oilfield operated by U.S. firm HKN Energy.
The U.S. State Department has suspended operations at the American Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait, indefinitely. “While there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel, the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State,” the Embassy said in a press release.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that his government made the decision to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayollah Ali Khamenei back in November and planned to do so within a six-month timeframe, according to Reuters.
The picture below is said to show Iranian sailors from the IRIS Bushehr being brought ashore in Sri Lanka.
UPDATE: 2:23 PM EST –
The IDF says it has now conducted 12 waves of strikes on Tehran. Israeli forces also continue to hit targets elsewhere in Iran.
Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.
Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.
The video and pictures below are said to show a fire at the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s (BAPCO) oil refinery in the Ma’ameer following an Iranian attack.
The earlier Iranian attack on Azerbaijan has caused that country to close a portion of its airspace over the southern end of the country. This adds to already significant airspace closures across the broader region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told NBC News that his country is prepared for a ground invasion in a new interview. He also said that Iran is still refusing to engage with the United States and has not asked for a ceasefire.
UPDATE: 1:57 PM EST –
The IDF says it has now conducted 12 waves of strikes on Tehran. Israeli forces also continue to hit targets elsewhere in Iran.
Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.
Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.
The video below is said to show strikes on an Iranian missile base in the country’s mountainous Damavand region.
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. government will have a role in choosing Iran’s future leadership, per Reuters. Trump said today that he would be personally involved in such a selection, according to Axios.
UPDATE: 1:20 PM EST –
U.S. Central Command has released a new video showing B-52 bombers flying in support of Operation Epic Fury. Closer inspection of the footage shows the aircraft carrying loads of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) air-launched cruise missiles.
“This came up in one of my threads yesterday as to B-52s and B-1s likely executing standoff strikes using cruise missiles fired from outside Iran, not direct attacks,” our own Tyler Rogoway has written on X. “This video confirms it, AGM-158 JASSMs on the wings. They were not ready to push anything but B-2s over Iran.”
The Washington Post has reported on the U.S. military’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) driven tools to help with developing target packages and other tasks in support of Operation Epic Fury. U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, very briefly mentioned the contributions of AI at a press conference at the Pentagon yesterday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited Ovda Air Base, which is currently hosting U.S. combat jets. Pictures show U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors, which were reported to have arrived last week, as well as at least one F/A-18F Super Hornet. The presence of Super Hornets at Ovda does not look to have been previously disclosed.
IDF Logistics Command says it has already provided “hundreds of millions of liters of fuel” to support ongoing operations, according to The Jerusalem Post. Israel’s small fleet of KC-707 tankers has conducted 550 individual aerial refuelings, according to the Israeli Air Force. Before the conflict erupted, TWZ highlighted the immense value that U.S. tanker support would bring to any future operations against Iran.
The Institute for the Study of War has published additional satellite imagery analysis of damage to Ali al Salem Airbase in Kuwait from Iranian attacks.
Iranian authorities claim to be engaged in “preemptive” operations targeting Iraqi-based “separatist groups.” This follows still conflicting reports that began emerging yesterday regarding the possibility of a ground incursion by armed Iranian Kurdish groups.
Iranian state media has also carried threats, attributed to unnamed officials, of attacks targeting the Israeli nuclear site at Dimona in the event of any concerted effort to unseat the current regime in Tehran.
Italian authorities say they are joining the multinational effort to bolster the defense of Cyprus in the face of Iranian attacks.
In a new interview with Bloomberg, Antony Blinken, who was U.S. Secretary of State under President Joe Biden, has suggested the Trump administration could seek to declare victory based on achievements so far as a possible off-ramp to the current conflict. Blinken also highlighted concerns about the impacts on U.S. munitions stocks and global energy markets if the fighting drags on.
There are reports that 1,000 commercial vessels, roughly half of which are oil and natural gas tankers, are currently anchored in and around the Persian Gulf as operators weigh the risks of attempting to sail in and out of the region, citing data from Lloyd’s Market Association. As already noted, ships are being attacked while sailing and at anchor in the Persian Gulf, as well as the Gulf of Oman.
UPDATE: 12:36 PM EST –
As the joint U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran continues into a sixth day, the war is spreading beyond the Middle East. On Thursday, Azerbaijani officials said Iranian drones struck territory and vowed to retaliate. The country shares a border with northwestern Iran.
“At around midday on 5 March, drone attacks were carried out against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “One drone struck the terminal building of the airport in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shakarabad. We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and injuries of two civilians.”
Four people were injured in the attack, according to Azerbaijani officials, and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev told a meeting of his Security Council that his country would respond militarily.
“We will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan,” he proclaimed, according to Reuters. “Our Armed Forces have been instructed to prepare and implement appropriate retaliatory measures. We are ready to demonstrate our strength against any hostile force – and they should not forget this in Iran.”
Aliyev did not offer specifics about what kind of retaliation.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan, saying, “We do not attack our neighboring countries.”
Video seen below is said to show the aftermath of these attacks.
Meanwhile, several nations continue to send more military assets to Cyprus. Sky News reported on X that the U.K., Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands are all deploying warships to help bolster the island nation’s defenses. Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to head to the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, Greece has already deployed four F-16s to the island.
This comes as RAF Akrotiri, a British air base on Cyprus, continues to come under attack. On Thursday, an image emerged showing what appears to be a hole punctured in a hangar regularly used by U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes operating from the base. A one-way attack drone hit the RAF Akrotiri base late on Sunday, March 1. It is unclear if any aircraft were there at the time.
The U.K. Defense Ministry told us that there were no casualties and that damage to the base was “minimal.” There was “no damage to equipment inside the hangar,” the official added.
We’ve reached out to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. European Command for comment and will update this story with any pertinent details provided.
Iran claims it has now begun employing Khorramshahr-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) in strikes on Israel, but firm corroborating evidence has yet to emerge. The IRGC said it fired a volley of these missiles at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport earlier today.
The Khorramshahr-4 is said to carry a 3,300-pound warhead, the heaviest payload of any of Iran’s ballistic missiles, which would allow for a broader swath of targets to be threatened with greater damage from any successful impacts. Khorramshahr-4s could also be fired from areas further in the eastern interior of the country, reducing vulnerability to U.S. and Israeli strikes that have already significantly degraded Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones. You can read more about what is known about this missile, which is derived from a North Korean design, here.
So far, Israel has not reported any casualties or major damage resulting from Iranian volleys today, and authorities in the country have highlighted a notable drop in overall attacks.
The IDF has now released a video of yesterday’s shootdown of one of Iran’s Russian-made Yak-130 light jets by an F-35I Adir fighter, which appears to be a view from the latter’s targeting system. You can read more about this engagement, which is the first known instance of an F-35 of any kind destroying a crewed aircraft, here.
The Pentagon and at least one Gulf Arab nation have reportedly reached out to Ukraine for cheap interceptors to help fend off waves of low-cost Iranian drones that have killed American troops and caused widespread damage across the Middle East. The talks, reported by the Financial Times, come amid continuing questions about the sufficiency of stocks of anti-air interceptors as Iran’s retaliatory attacks continue. As we have frequently noted, Ukraine has made significant investments in the development of new, lower-cost interceptors in response to years now of Russian drone attacks.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also acknowledged the interest in his country’s counter-drone systems.
“We received signals from partners in the Middle East,” he explained on X. “There have been strikes by Iranian ‘Shaheds’ on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request from Europeans and from the United States. Requests have come to us to share our experience with partners in the Middle East.”
However, Zelensky also stated his oft-repeated concern about his own country’s stock of interceptors and suggested a swap of those for Patriot missiles.
“Regarding weapons: we ourselves are at war. And I said, completely frankly, that we have a shortage of what they have,” the Ukrainian leader noted. “They have missiles for the Patriots, but hundreds or thousands of ‘Shaheds’ cannot be intercepted with Patriot missiles – it is too costly. Nothing is too much for the people, of course, but they simply do not have that many missiles. That is why they need interceptor drones, which we have. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. So, when it comes to technology or weapons exchange, I believe our country will be open to it.”
While the Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptors, U.S. Central Command is reportedly seeking additional personnel to help handle the flow of intelligence pouring in from the Middle East. CENTCOM “is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September,” Politico reported, citing a notification it obtained.
“It’s the first known call for additional intelligence personnel for the Iran war by the administration, and a sign the Pentagon is already allocating funding for operations that may stretch long beyond President Donald Trump’s initial four-week timeline for the conflict,” the outlet posited. “The rush to add people and resources to support efforts that are often organized well in advance of U.S. military action highlights how the Trump team had not fully anticipated the wide fallout of the war it launched alongside Israel on Saturday.”
It has been pointed out that the “through September” timeline for these temporary deployments may simply be dictated by standard personnel management procedures.
CENTCOM has released a new video showing attacks on Iranian hardened shelters and aircraft out in the open.
CENTCOM has also highlighted new attacks on Iranian mobile missile launchers. As we noted yesterday, these strikes have been a big focus of Epic Fury and have helped drastically reduce the number of missiles Iran has launched.
A new uncrewed surface vessel attack on a commercial ship has been reported. The Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker Sonangol Namibe, which was anchored in Iraqi waters, is said to have been struck. As we previously reported, the first Iranian kamikaze boat attack during Epic Fury took place on March 2 on a ship in the Gulf of Oman.
A video emerged on social media purporting to show the moment that USV hit the Sonangol Namibe.
In the wake of the sinking of an Iranian frigate by a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called the incident an “atrocity” and vowed revenge. The unnamed American submarine sank the Moudge class frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near the island of Sri Lanka. Our sister site Task & Purpose has reported that a Los Angeles class submarine was responsible. Regardless, it is was the first sinking by a U.S. Navy submarine since World War II.
“Mark my words,” he stated on X. “The U.S. will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set.”
The Indian government has also now released a statement with details about the rescue effort after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed.
Satellite imagery collected today shows what appears to be oil on the surface of the water near Galle, Sri Lanka, which could be tied to the sinking of the IRIS Dena.
Meanwhile, another Iranian ship is seeking shelter in Sri Lanka.
“The Sri Lankan minister Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament that another Iranian vessel was sailing close to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday morning,” The Guardian reported. “We are making necessary interventions to resolve this issue, restrict the threat to lives and to ensure regional security.”
Unnamed sources told The Guardian that “the ship was a logistical pipe-laying vessel, which is not categorised as a warship. It may be as close as 10 nautical miles from the western coast of Sri Lanka, putting it within the country’s sovereign waters.”
The sources told the news outlet that the ship, which is reported to have a crew of more than 100 onboard, “had made an urgent request to dock at Colombo port for engine repairs.”
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com