- 12 hours ago
An American fighter jet was downed in southern Iran, escalating the West Asia conflict. While one pilot was reportedly rescued, search operations continue for the second crew member.
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00:00Very good evening, I'm Geeta Mohan and you're watching India Today Global.
00:03Big breaking news coming in at the top of this bulletin.
00:06President Trump has been briefed on reports coming out of Iran
00:11that a US F-15E fighter jet has been down inside the country.
00:17Reports suggest US forces have rescued one crew member
00:20after the fighter jet was down in the south of Iran.
00:25Earlier, Iran claimed to have shot down the F-15 fighter jet
00:29which is a two-seater plane.
00:31Now, Iran has also launched a search operation
00:33to take the American pilot into custody.
00:37Meanwhile, there are reports that one of the two pilots
00:40has already been rescued.
00:42Those are visuals that you're seeing of the rescue operation
00:46that was carried out while there was light by the American forces.
00:50But what we are looking at is going to be a serious scenario
00:54should the other pilot come into the custody of Iran.
01:03The West Asia war is now spiraling into a dangerous new phase
01:07and an American F-15E strike, like we were reporting,
01:10was shot down and visuals now are emerging,
01:13posted by Iranian media that claim to show the wreckage
01:17while separate images suggest a pilot ejecting midair.
01:21According to Iranian claims, the jet was brought down by the IRGC,
01:25the pilot parachuted into Iranian territory,
01:28and a US combat search and rescue operation followed soon after.
01:34Now, US media too is confirming that the fighter jet has been brought down.
01:39Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagheer Galibaf,
01:43taking a sharp swipe at the US,
01:45said what began as a so-called regime change mission
01:49has now been reduced to a desperate search for missing American pilots.
01:54In a scathing remark, he calls it a brilliant no-strategy war,
02:00sarcastically pointing to what he describes
02:02as a dramatic fall in US objectives on battlefield.
02:07Galibaf goes further, mocking what he calls incredible progress
02:11and even branding US actions as those of absolute geniuses.
02:19Sandeep Unithan, senior journalist, joins me live on this one.
02:23Sandeep, this is massive.
02:25We were discussing it just some time ago
02:27on how big and how difficult a situation President Trump is in right now,
02:33even as reports suggest he's been briefed of the F-15E having been downed.
02:38Now, there are reports that one pilot has been rescued.
02:42Absolutely, Geetha.
02:43And, you know, this is US boots on the ground in a very different scenario.
02:51I mean, these are, you know, pilot boots on the ground
02:55and two pilots believed to have hit the ground in Iran,
02:59possibly the first US servicemen on the ground in Iran.
03:04Of course, not in a way that the United States would have wanted them to.
03:07One pilot, we believe, has been rescued.
03:10The other one, the search for the other pilot continues.
03:13And as we were discussing a short while ago,
03:15the F-15 Strike Eagle is one of the most capable fighter bombers in the US inventory.
03:22It's flown by the US Air Force.
03:24It's a twin-seater aircraft where you have one pilot
03:28and you have a weapon systems officer.
03:31So, there are two pilots on a mission.
03:33The weapon systems officer, of course, you know, aims the ordnance,
03:38you know, targets, you know, targets the, hits the targets on the ground.
03:42And that is a two-person crew.
03:45And we've actually seen a few weeks back
03:48when three F-15 Strike Eagles were downed in an incident of friendly fire.
03:54So, this is possibly the fourth F-15 to go down.
03:56But this one has been brought out by the IRGC.
03:59Now, this is, you know, a turning point in this conflict, Gita.
04:05As we were discussing earlier,
04:06that if visuals were to emerge of a US pilot in Iranian custody,
04:11that would look very bad for the United States in general
04:15and President Trump in particular
04:17because this is not the kind of, you know,
04:20image that President Trump would want to be seen flashed around the world.
04:24So, there is, at the moment,
04:26a desperate hunt by the US combat search and rescue teams
04:29to rescue that second crew of the F-15 Strike Eagle.
04:34So, that is literally going to be, you know,
04:38a scramble, a race against time
04:40to get that second crewman off the ground, Gita.
04:43Right, Sandeep, I was just going to ask you about the optics of it,
04:47but you've already said how bad it will look for President Trump.
04:49Having said that, where is and who is at an advantage at this point in time?
04:55It's nightfall. It's dark.
04:58We thought the advantage would be
04:59if they tried to rescue their pilots during the evening hours,
05:04which is when the reports had started trickling in.
05:07Who has an advantage in nightfall or during nightfall when it's pitch dark?
05:12Well, when it's pitch dark, Gita,
05:14it's the United States that has an advantage
05:16because they have the most advanced night vision devices in the world.
05:21No one comes even close to that.
05:22This is something that the US does very well.
05:25All their aircraft, all their helicopters,
05:29all their special mission aircraft are all fully night vision compatible,
05:33which means that they can fly through night in pitch darkness
05:37without any lights on,
05:39navigating purely with night vision devices and their glass cockpits.
05:44So, this is something that they would have actually been waiting for.
05:47So, at the moment, if we can imagine that scenario,
05:52the pilot is out there,
05:55you know, the US CSAR rescue attempt is underway,
05:59a lot of it would be driven through these night vision devices
06:03wearing pilots, you know, paratroopers, special forces people.
06:08They would be hunting for that second pilot
06:10to bring him back safely to US custody, Gita.
06:14Right. So, it's a very, very tough situation.
06:16And we over here at India Today will be tracking every moment
06:20of what really happens on the ground in that part of Iran,
06:24that's south of Iran.
06:24Sandeep Unitan, for now, thank you so much for joining us
06:27and adding value to what really is happening on the ground
06:30and how important it is in terms of operations
06:34for the United States of America to rescue this one other pilot.
06:40Now, Tehran is hitting back hard.
06:42As the US and Israel continue its relentless attacks on Iranian infrastructures,
06:48a factory in Israel's Petatekwar was damaged by Iranian missile
06:53that was intercepted above the area.
06:55The missile struck between a residential neighborhood
06:58and the city's industrial zone,
07:00causing a large crater with a shockwave heavily damaging nearby buildings.
07:05The no injuries were reported.
07:08In Kuwait, the Meena al-Ahmadi oil refinery was on fire after a drone attack,
07:14but no injuries again were reported.
07:16This is the third time the refinery has been hit.
07:19Officials said a water desalination plant has also been attacked.
07:23The attacks come after a US strike on a bridge connecting the city of Karaj
07:29to Iran's capital Tehran.
07:31Debris from an intercepted Iranian missile over the Israeli town of Kiriyat, Atta,
07:37fell on a car park, destroying at least two cars.
07:40No casualties reported in that case as well.
07:43After Trump said in his address that the US has nothing to do with Iran's oil
07:47and countries depending on Iran should go and take oil from Hormuz
07:52in a post on Truth Social, the president said with a little more time
07:56we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil and make a fortune.
08:01It would be a gusher for the world.
08:04This is in contrast to a statement that US has nothing to do with Hormuz
08:08and it was doing everything for its allies.
08:10Meanwhile, a container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM
08:15has passed through the Strait of Hormuz.
08:17The Malta-flagged Kribi, owned by CMA CGM, crossed the Strait on the 2nd of April.
08:23It is the first French-owned vessel to make it through the channel since the war began.
08:29A vote by the United Nations Security Council on a resolution on the Strait of Hormuz
08:34that was scheduled for the 3rd of April will now take place on Saturday.
08:43Now West Asia conflict is rapidly escalating after a joint US-Israel strike destroyed a key bridge
08:50which we were talking about allegedly used for missile movement.
08:54US President Donald Trump has warned that Iran's power infrastructure could be next.
09:00Tehran has hit back with threats and claimed strikes on US assets in the Gulf
09:04while releasing a list of potential regional targets.
09:07Here's a report.
09:21The war is escalating fast.
09:24Direct threat to critical bridges and global choke points.
09:31The trigger, a joint US-Israel strike on B-1 bridge in Karaj in Iran.
09:40Hit twice, sections of the bridge collapsed on impact.
09:44A key link between Tehran and Karaj reduced to rubble in precision strikes.
09:49Media reports say this was no ordinary bridge.
09:52It was being used to move ballistic missiles westward closer to Israel.
09:57US President Donald Trump has upped the ante following the attack.
10:00In a social media post, he warns, first the bridge, up next power plants.
10:06Iran's energy infrastructure could be next.
10:09Iran hits back, strong and defiant.
10:12Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Arachi called the US strikes moral decay.
10:17Now Tehran is signalling retaliation.
10:20Iranian media published a target list.
10:23Sheikh Zayed bridge in Abu Dhabi.
10:25Sheikh Khalifa bridge in Abu Dhabi.
10:27King Fahad Kauzwein's Saudi Qobar.
10:30And King Hossein bridge in Jordan.
10:34As we have said before, we tell the American Zionist enemies,
10:37your information about our military capabilities, power and equipment is incomplete.
10:42You know nothing of our vast and strategic capacities.
10:45Do not hope that you have destroyed our strategic missile production centers,
10:49long-range offensive drones, modern air defense systems,
10:52electronic warfare and our special equipment.
10:54With such an assumption, you will only deepen the cogmire in which you have trapped yourselves.
11:02And that is not all.
11:04The Iranian armed forces have claimed massive strikes in the Gulf,
11:07including attacks on the US personnel in UAE.
11:10USS Abraham Lincoln, an American drone bases.
11:14Tehran claimed that another F-35 stealth fighter has been downed.
11:19Iran also claimed attacks on Amazon's facility in Bahrain, along with other sites.
11:25From bridges to power grids to digital networks,
11:29West Asia is now staring at full-spectrum escalation,
11:33with civilians and critical systems in the line of fire.
11:38Bureau Report, India Today.
11:44U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified military action against Iran
11:48as the conflict enters Day 35, while also reshuffling top leadership.
11:53Army Chief General Randy George has been forced out early,
11:57with General Christopher Laniv stepping in as Acting Chief.
12:01Maashweta Lala with this report.
12:10U.S. President Donald Trump is raining missiles on Iran and firing his top officials.
12:16As West Asia war enters Day 35 and the day after Trump delivered his address to the nation,
12:23reiterating the greatness of the U.S. military,
12:26his Secretary of War, Pete Hexet, has ousted the Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George.
12:33In a statement, spokesperson of Chief Defence Department, Sean Parnell said,
12:38and I quote,
12:39General Randy A. George will be retiring from his position
12:42as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army, effective immediately.
12:47The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation.
12:52We wish him well in his retirement.
12:55The Army Chief of Staff serves a four-year term.
12:58General George, who was expected to serve till the end of summer 2027,
13:03had worked with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll,
13:06a senior official close to the White House
13:08and a long-time personal friend of Vice President J.D. Vance,
13:12with whom Hexet had a troubled relationship.
13:16General George had also served as a senior military assistant
13:20to former Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin
13:22from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration.
13:28The current Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, General Christopher Lanovey,
13:32who was formerly Hexet's military aide,
13:34will be acting Army Chief of Staff.
13:36He previously served as the commanding general
13:39of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division from 2022 to 2023.
13:46The U.S. Military Academy at West Point posted photos on social media of General George.
13:53Pete Hexet has fired more than a dozen senior military officers too.
13:57There are also reports that there are discussions about FBI Director,
14:01Kash Patel, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll,
14:03and Labour Secretary Laurie Chavez de Rameau,
14:07leaving the administration.
14:11Meanwhile, another top official of the Trump administration
14:14and country's Attorney General Pam Bondi too has been removed from her position.
14:18President Donald Trump confirmed U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi
14:22was removed from her post and said she was being replaced
14:25by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in an acting capacity.
14:29Trump reportedly had grown frustrated with Bondi's handling of investigative files
14:34related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
14:38The firing also comes after Pam Bondi testified
14:41before the House Judiciary Committee in February,
14:43where she engaged in combative and highly contentious exchanges
14:47with the lawmakers regarding the Epstein case.
14:51Maashweta Lala, Bureau Report, India Today.
14:53None of them asked Merrick Garland over the last four years.
15:01Israel and U.S. have been constantly targeting one city in Iran,
15:05which is Isfahan.
15:07We'll tell you why Isfahan is important.
15:10India Today's open-source intelligence team brings you this report
15:13where they break down terrain, Iranian movement,
15:15and why airstrikes may not be enough.
15:19Take a look at this report.
15:21I call it a night.
15:23Goodbye and take care.
15:26Let's talk about Isfahan,
15:28the place now at the center of the U.S. and Israel's military campaign in Iran.
15:34But wait, wasn't this same place already bombed last year in June?
15:40Wasn't Iran's nuclear program, as Donald Trump claimed, already obliterated?
15:45Well, it is a bit more complicated than that.
15:50Let's go back to June 22nd, 2025, Operation Midnight Hammer.
15:56USB-2 bombers flew all the way from the American mainland to strike Iran's nuclear facilities
16:03using GBU-57 massive ordnance penetrators, better known as bunker buster bombs.
16:11Their prime targets were Fordow and Natanz.
16:15The two facilities the U.S. believed were critical to Iran's nuclear weapons pathway.
16:21Long before that strike, Israeli intelligence had already spent years studying these sites.
16:28Fordow's tunnel architecture had been mapped in detail.
16:32The facility was buried deep beneath rock, designed to stay hidden and survive attack.
16:39That intelligence likely helped identify vulnerable points for bunker buster strikes.
16:45The same was true in different ways for Natanz.
16:49But Isfahan was different.
16:51And to understand why, we need to look at the terrain.
16:55Fordow's uranium enrichment plant sits deep inside a rocky mountain,
17:00with terrain above it giving it heavy natural protection.
17:05Natanz, on the other hand, is also buried underground,
17:09but not in the same mountain ridge setting.
17:12Isfahan is different from both.
17:14Here, some of the underground tunnel zones appear to sit beneath far higher ridge lines,
17:21potentially giving parts of the facility much deeper natural shielding than Fordow or Natanz.
17:28That matters because bunker buster bombs are designed to penetrate deep underground targets,
17:35but only up to a point.
17:37So, while Fordow and Natanz sat within the range of what repeated bunker buster strikes were meant to target,
17:45Isfahan appears to have posed a much harder penetration problem.
17:49And that may explain why, during the 12-day war in June 2025,
17:55the US used bunker busters on Fordow and Natanz,
17:59but hit Isfahan differently.
18:02With Tomahawk cruise missiles aimed at tunnel entrances and external access points,
18:09rather than trying to punch directly into the buried core.
18:13But that is not the whole story.
18:15Because as it turns out,
18:17the Iranians may have already seen this coming.
18:21Open source analysis now suggests that some enriched uranium
18:25may have been moved to Isfahan before the bombings.
18:29And that changes everything.
18:31Because now we are not just talking about a hardened site.
18:35We may be talking about a hardened site
18:38that holds some of Iran's most valuable nuclear material.
18:42But wait, what exactly is enriched uranium?
18:46Here is the simple version.
18:49Natural uranium contains only a tiny amount of uranium-235.
18:55The isotope needed for a nuclear weapon.
18:59So the uranium is turned into a gas
19:01and fed into fast-spinning machines called centrifuges.
19:06As these machines spin at extremely high speed,
19:09they gradually separate the lighter uranium-235
19:14from the heavier uranium-238.
19:18The more this process is repeated,
19:20the more concentrated the uranium-235 becomes.
19:26And once uranium is enriched to very high levels,
19:30it can be used in a nuclear bomb.
19:32So if enriched uranium was moved to Isfahan before the strikes,
19:37then Iran's most prized nuclear stock
19:39may now sit inside one of the hardest underground targets in the country.
19:44And Isfahan is not just deep.
19:47It is also heavily defended.
19:49The wider area is surrounded by military infrastructure,
19:53air bases, drone hubs and missile sites,
19:57making it part of Iran's central defensive belt.
20:00So now the problem for the-
20:03So now the problem for the-
20:03So now the problem for the-
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