Former US Special Forces personnel and journalist Jack Murphy has claimed that the missing F-15 crew member has been located alive after ejecting over Iran amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. Murphy tweeted on X, “Good news for once. F-15 WSO recovered alive. Was escaping and evading. Massive firefight on tgt. Iranians were actively looking for him in the area.”

While the report has yet to be officially confirmed by the US government, Al Jazeera cited a US official saying the airman was rescued following a “heavy firefight”.

Both the United States and Iran were conducting search operations for the missing crew member. According to CNN, during these missions, Iranian tribesmen reportedly opened fire on American helicopters in the mountainous highlands of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces and the Bakhtiari region.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) praised the tribal groups, calling them “courageous, valiant and victorious guardians of the borders”, highlighting their role in patrolling and engaging American forces.

Footage released on Friday reportedly shows nomadic Bakhtiari tribesmen armed with rifles navigating the rugged terrain of Iran’s Khuzestan province, actively searching for the missing F-15 crew member. In the video, one individual is heard saying, “God willing, he will be found.”

 

Iranian authorities also reportedly offered substantial financial bounties as incentives for the capture of the missing airman.

US response and President Trump’s statement

Earlier, US President Donald Trump refrained from specifying potential military responses should the crew member be harmed or captured. In a phone interview, Trump told The Independent, “Well, I can't comment on it because we hope that's not going to happen.”

With ANI inputs