Iran Places Bounty On U.S. Pilots Who Were Shot Down In Southern Iran

As WLT Report previously reported, a U.S. F-15 was shot down in Southern Iran.

Videos on X , show U.S. Blackhawks and surveillance planes flying at low altitudes in Iran in an attempt to find the pilots of the F-15 who possibly ejected from the plane before it crashed.

Take a look:

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 Close-up footage of a MC-130J Commando II refueling two UH-60 Black Hawks over southwestern Iran.

A combat search and rescue in hostile airspace.

Somewhere below, a downed F-15E Strike Eagle crew is still unaccounted for.@TabzLIVE https://t.co/Fyd6xQjjUt pic.twitter.com/4CCy0wFVLa

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 3, 2026

BIG: Iranian state media released images of debris from a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet.

Iran initially claimed it had shot down an F-35, but the wreckage shown clearly matches an F-15E. pic.twitter.com/JMQvv0h2yo

— Clash Report (@clashreport) April 3, 2026

Now, Iranian State Media has reported a bounty has been placed on the U.S. pilots:

#BREAKING:🇺🇸🇮🇷 IRIB calls upon local tribes of Kohgiluyeh-Boyer Ahmad Province to search for the American F-15 pilots, and promises a reward for those who capture them alive https://t.co/ehM1Xtgy3B pic.twitter.com/jTsAkb2aEC

— Global War Report. (@GlobeWarReport) April 3, 2026

The New York Post reported more details on the bounty issued by Iran:

Iran claimed Friday it shot down an American fighter jet and put a bounty on the missing pilot — as a search-and-rescue operation was launched for the crew.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed “newly developed and advanced air defenses” had downed a fighter jet, which was “completely destroyed and crashed,” Tehran’s Press TV reported.

It would be the first known loss of a jet inside the country since the start of the war, during which American and Israeli pilots have carried out more than 20,000 airstrikes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

A US F-35A was damaged over Iran on March 19 during a combat mission, and 16 MQ-9 drones have been shot down, the outlet said.

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft takes off.
Iran claimed Friday it shot down a US fighter jet — as it put a bounty on the pilot who Tehran claims was ejected before the attack. U.S. Central Command Public Affairs
The anchor of a local affiliate of the state TV broadcaster promised a reward for anyone in the Iranian public who alerts regime authorities to the pilot’s location, claiming the pilot had ejected from their aircraft over southwestern Iran.

“If you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police, you will receive a precious prize,” the anchor said, according to the Associated Press.

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Meanwhile, the US launched a search-and-rescue operation to locate the two crew, sources told Axios.

This is a developing story…

Any thoughts?