Iranian TV says U.S. pilot ejected over southwest Iran
An Iranian local television channel reported today that a U.S. fighter pilot was compelled to eject from their aircraft over southwestern Iran.
US authorities did not respond immediately to requests for comment, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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The anchor on the channel read the following announcement: “If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize.”
An on-screen crawl separately urged the public to “shoot them if you see them,” referring to social media footage circulating of what appeared to be US aircraft in the area.
The channel provided no other immediate details.
The claim came as Iran continued to fire on targets across the region.
The Iranians damaged a desalination plant and set a refinery ablaze in Kuwait.
US and Israeli air strikes, meanwhile, hit the Islamic Republic, despite US and Israeli insistence that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits has sent oil prices skyrocketing and plunged the global economy into crisis.
The US has presented Iran with a 15-point plan for a ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, dismantling Iran’s nuclear facilities and limiting its missile production in exchange for sanctions relief.
The Iranians have set out their own five-point counter proposal which includes recognising Iran’s sovereignty over the strait, the removal of US bases from the region, compensation for war damage and a guarantee against further aggression.
Meanwhile, more than 100 US-based international law experts published an open letter on Thursday slamming the US and Israeli attacks on Iran as violations of the United Nations Charter and as possible war crimes.
The letter, co-authored by prominent legal scholars including Philip Alson of New York University, Yale Law School’s Oona Hathaway and former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth, says: “Force against another state is only permitted in self-defence against an actual or imminent armed attack or where authorised by the UN security council.
“The security council did not authorise the attack. Iran did not attack Israel or the US.”
The statement said: “We are seriously concerned about strikes that have hit schools, health facilities and homes,” as well as public statements by senior US officials, including President Donald Trump.
In particular, it noted a mid-March comment from President Trump where he said that the US may conduct strikes on Iran “just for fun.”
By Ulviyya Salmanli
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