Iran shot down two U.S. military planes in separate attacks Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing, in a dramatic escalation since the war began nearly five weeks ago.

It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict.

The incident began on Friday with the downing of a U.S. F-15E fighter jet over Iran. One of the two crew members was rescued but the second remains missing, and US is continuing an intensive effort to locate him before he falls into Iranian hands.

The Telegraph reported that U.S. special forces are operating on the ground in an attempt to rescue him.

According to reports, the aircraft was hit during operations over Iran, and both crew members ejected. Shortly afterward, American forces managed to rescue one of them, while the search for the second continues under difficult terrain conditions and constant threats. Reuters reported that Iranian forces are also working simultaneously to locate the missing crew member, turning the situation into a highly sensitive operational race.

Two Black Hawk helicopters searching for the missing crew member were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two U.S. officials told Reuters.

In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search-and-rescue efforts but said what happened would not affect negotiations with Iran.

“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he said.

In a separate incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over Kuwait. The pilot ejected from the craft, US officials said.

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released public information about the downed planes. But the Pentagon notified the House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member from the fighter jet was not known.

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 in peacetime, have roiled stock markets, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and threatened to raise the cost of many basic goods, including food.

Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television said earlier that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward.

It was the first time the U.S. has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the conflict and could mark a new level of pressure on the U.S. military.

Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true. Friday was the first time that Iran went on television urging the public to look for a downed pilot.

Iranian state media said in a post on the social platform X that the military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a pilot and weapons system officer.

Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.

News about the downed planes came after Iran attacked Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery. The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said firefighters were working to control several blazes.

Kuwait also said an Iranian attack caused “material damage” to a desalination plant. Such plants are responsible for most of the drinking water for Gulf states, and they have become a major target in the war.

Also sirens sounded in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia said it destroyed several Iranian drones and Israel reported incoming missiles.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shut down a gas field after a missile interception reportedly rained debris on it and started a fire.

Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem & AP)

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated on Motzei Shabbos in Israel)