Iranian state TV affiliate claims U.S. pilot ejected over southwest Iran

RIYADH, April 3, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) - A local channel affiliated with Iranian state television claimed on Friday that a U.S. fighter pilot had ejected over southwestern Iran, while police called on the public to hand over any pilots found alive to security authorities. U.S. officials did not immediately confirm the claim.

The channel in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province said viewers who captured any “enemy pilot or pilots” alive and turned them over to police would receive a “precious prize,” according to AP.

AP reported that the channel had initially urged viewers to shoot Americans if they saw them, before later airing a police statement calling for any downed pilots to be handed over alive.

U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, AP said. The report added that the channel provided no further immediate details about the claim.

AP noted that Iran has previously claimed during the war to have shot down piloted aircraft, but those assertions did not prove true. It said Friday marked the first time Iranian television had urged the public to help locate a suspected downed American pilot.

Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province lies about 500 kilometers southwest of Tehran, and its capital is Yasuj. AP described the area as rural and mountainous