Trump’s ‘no-strategy’ war downgraded to a hunt for pilots in Iran: Qalibaf

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says the US-Israel’s illegal war on the country has “downgraded from regime change” to a hunt for their pilots after Iran’s armed forces downed another F-35 warplane earlier Friday.

Posting on X, Qalibaf ridiculed Donald Trump’s five-week war on the country, saying “this brilliant, no-strategy war” has now been downgraded to “can anyone find our pilots, please.”

“Wow, what incredible progress. Absolute geniuses,” he said.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said earlier Friday that its newly developed and advanced air defenses had shot down a stealth F-35 fighter jet in central Iran.

After hours of denial, the US military finally confirmed that one of its fighter jets have been downed inside Iranian soil, claiming it was an F-15.

Following the downing, ABC News cited familiar sources that the US has launched a search-and-rescue operation to find the pilot or pilots.

Some US media have claimed that one pilot has been rescued.

Meanwhile, military forces and locals in the southwestern provinces of Khuzestan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province have been searching for the pilot.

Iranian armed forces have so far downed two F-35s, one F-18, two F-16s, and four F-15s since the start of the aggression.

The Pentagon, however, has tried to portray Iran’s downing of its warplanes as “friendly fire” or “accidents.”

The unprovoked war, which the US and Israel launched on February 28 as negotiations with Iran were ongoing, has had a high cost, roiling energy and stock markets worldwide, disrupting shipping, and resulting in casualties among US forces across the region.

Under pressure at home to end aggression, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the war, now in its fifth week, has already achieved many of its objectives in Iran so far.

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