The shooting down of United States' fighter jets offers "a real boost" to the morale of the Iranian armed forces, Foad Izadi, associate professor at the University of Tehran's Faculty of World Studies, said on Saturday.
Two U.S. military aircraft, an F-15 fighter jet and an A-10 Warthog attack plane, crashed in quick succession on Friday after coming under fire from Iran, local media reported. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that the aircraft was hit by advanced air defense systems operated by its aerospace division.
One pilot from the two-seat F-15 has been rescued, but the other remains missing. The A-10 Warthog reportedly managed to reach Kuwaiti airspace, where the lone pilot ejected and escaped.
The incident is the first known case of a U.S. warplane being downed inside Iranian territory and the fourth F-15 lost since the United States and Israel launched large-scale strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The consecutive losses of U.S. aircraft came shortly after President Donald Trump claimed that the Iranian forces "can't do a thing about" American planes flying over Tehran.
"Iranians have been doing this for some time now. When Americans were selling these planes to allies, they were advertising that it's not possible to shoot down. It is possible. Iran is doing it. This is an achievement for Iran. This is indigenous technology," said Izadi in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
"Iran has been under sanctions for 47 years. So for Iran to be able to shoot down, that's a real boost for the morale and effectiveness of the Iranian armed forces," the scholar added.
Downing U.S. jets offers morale boost for Iran's armed forces: scholar
Authorities in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region have been implementing public wellbeing programs to ensure a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), as high-quality public service resources continue to reach grassroots communities.
The Xizang Hospital, being built under the auspices of the West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, which was included in the fourth batch of national regional medical center projects in October 2022, is under construction.
Once operational, it will save local residents' trips to other provinces for medical treatment, effectively addressing the shortage of high-quality medical resources in the region.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the regional government will make simultaneous efforts to increase the income of urban and rural residents, optimize basic public services, and broaden employment channels. It will also ensure that the number of families with no employed members is steadily reduced to zero, promote work-relief programs, and increase new urban employment opportunities.
Meanwhile, Xizang will step up the construction of county-level medical and health consortia, achieve full coverage of public childcare services at the prefecture level, and improve education, medical care, elderly care, and childcare services.
"We will continue to take improving people's livelihood and rallying people's support as our ultimate objectives, focusing on increasing employment and people's income, improving education quality, medical and health care, social security, elderly care, and childcare services, so that the achievements of building a new modern socialist Xizang can benefit more people in a fair manner," said Wang Jingcai, deputy director of the regional development and reform commission.
Authorities in Xizang roll out public wellbeing programs to ensure good start to 15th Five-Year Plan
