&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Downgrade from ‘regime change’ to ‘find our pilots’: Iran’s speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocks US over downed jet")
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf mocked the United States on Friday for its “brilliant no-strategy war” in an X post after an American fighter jet was shot down over southwestern Iran. Ghalibaf also ridiculed President Donald Trump for repeatedly claiming that Iran has been defeated in the war.
“After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’,” Ghalibaf said in a post on his X account.
“Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses,” he added sarcastically, rubbing salt in the wounds.
Also Read: ‘Capture US pilot alive, get reward,’ says Iranian media after Tehran claims it downed F-15E
Ghalibaf’s account has been very active recently, as it keeps posting memes occasionally, while he was last seen on state TV over a fortnight ago, on 17 March.
Some unconfirmed reports suggested that the Donald Trump administration was considering Ghalibaf as a potential partner and possibly even a future leader of Iran.
Trump said on 31 March that there has been regime change in Iran, adding that the new Iranian leaders are “much less radicalised” and more “rational”.
Iran and the US have been trading accusations and stepping up military posturing in recent weeks.
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According to the Fars news agency, the jet was struck over central Iran by a newly deployed air defence system operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force.
“A search operation has begun for the American fighter pilot who was targeted and shot down by the Iranian Armed Forces,” the report said.
Iranian media claimed the aircraft was a fifth-generation F-35 jet.
Analysts warn that any confirmed loss of a US fifth-generation fighter jet could mark a significant escalation in the conflict.
Also Read: Gulf states seek UNSC mandate for force to protect Hormuz; China, France, Russia may veto move
The United States confirmed earlier that it had lost an F-15E fighter jet over Iran. The US fighter jet was downed days after the Pentagon claimed that Iranian air defences had been so degraded that American planes could fly unimpeded over the country.
President Trump also threatened to bomb Iran “to the stone age where it belongs.”
Iranian media also claimed that a US helicopter sent on a search and rescue mission was also downed, while Tehran announced a $60,000 bounty for any citizen who locates the downed pilots.
Also Read: ‘World on edge of wider war, people are already struggling,’ says UN chief Antonio Guterres
The downing is the first known loss of a manned jet in the current operations, though US forces have faced other aircraft losses, including a March 2 “friendly fire” incident involving Kuwaiti air defences.
The US has also lost an E-3 Sentry AWACS plane on the ground on March 27 and more than a dozen unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drones, as per Iranian claims.
Iran has additionally claimed to have shot down at least one F-35 Lightning jet, though this has not been confirmed by the US.
