Key points
- Drones reportedly shot down in Salmas border region
- Iranian state TV claims Israeli UAVs were on espionage and reconnaissance missions
- Fate of Israeli F-35 pilots remains unconfirmed: Iranian state media
ISLAMABAD: Iranian forces have downed Israeli reconnaissance drones that allegedly violated Iranian airspace in the country’s northwest, state media reported on Saturday, amid ongoing military tensions between the two nations.
“Islamic fighters (Iranian forces) in the Salmas border region successfully shot down Israeli drones that had violated the country’s airspace,” Iranian state television announced. It added that the unmanned aerial vehicles were conducting “espionage and reconnaissance missions.”
Iran’s air defense forces have shot down two Israeli F-35 fighter jets and intercepted several hostile drones.
Tasnim also reported that one female pilot has been taken into custody. pic.twitter.com/SpyAqTIpPr— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) June 13, 2025
The reported incident comes as Israel and Iran continue to exchange fire following Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and Iran’s retaliatory missile attacks on Israeli territory, according to AFP.
Two Israeli F-35 fighter jets
According to Iranian state-run IRNA, the Air Defense Force of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army successfully shot down and destroyed two Israeli F-35 fighter jets and a large number of their micro air vehicles. The fate of the pilots is unknown and under investigation, it reported.
Iranian media, however, have not provided details on the type of weapons allegedly used to track and shoot down the Israeli F-35 fighter jets, nor have they disclosed the reported crash sites. No images, footage, or independent eyewitness accounts of the wreckage have been released so far.
Meanwhile, WION quoted Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), dismissing the Iranian claims, saying: “Fake Iranian media. The news being spread by Iranian outlets is completely baseless.”
