An Israeli F-35 fighter jet shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 aircraft over the skies of Iran’s capital Tehran, the Israeli army claimed on Wednesday. The army said in a statement the incident marked the “first shootdown in history” of a manned fighter aircraft by an F-35 fighter jet.
The incident occurred shortly after the Israeli army launched what it called “broad scale” airstrikes targeting Iranian sites in Tehran.
The army also said that it had struck dozens of facilities belonging to Iran’s internal security forces and the paramilitary Basij force. Iran has fired regular salvoes of missiles and drones missiles at Israel, though most of the incoming fire has been intercepted. Eleven people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began.
Earlier today, Israel said it was conducting a series of strikes across Tehran targeting Iranian security forces, the day after it hit a building associated with the clerical panel that will pick Iran’s next supreme leader in the city of Qom.
