Iran Claims Destruction of F-35s vs. U.S. Dismisses "False Claim" as Middle East Nears Brink

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Iran has claimed that it launched airstrikes on a U.S. military base, destroying F-35 stealth fighters. The U.S. military immediately fired back, calling it a false claim, as the war of words between the two nations appears to spread across the entire Middle East.

Reporting from Washington, this is Lee Hanseok.

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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement claiming that it previously struck a U.S. air force base in Jordan with ballistic missiles, completely destroying three U.S. F-35 stealth fighters and severely damaging three others.

The U.S. military was quick to counter.

The U.S. Central Command posted a fact-check on social media, stating that not a single U.S. aircraft suffered any damage and that all of Iran's missiles and drones were either intercepted or failed to reach their targets.

It also dismissed the Iranian announcement that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had been broken, calling it a false claim by Iran intended to pose threats to commercial vessels.

Along with this, the U.S. military released footage of an in-flight refueling of a P-8 Poseidon special reconnaissance aircraft.

The rare disclosure of strategic assets deployed for monitoring the Strait of Hormuz is interpreted as a message of pressure against Iran.

As the war between the U.S. and Iran drags on, the battle of words between the two sides is spilling over the Persian Gulf and into the wider Middle East.

At an Egyptian port, two vessels, including a U.S. oil tanker, came under drone attacks.

While these remain sporadic attacks for now, if the U.S. launches a full-scale war, the entire Middle East could be drawn into the conflict.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense has signed a mega-contract worth 135 billion dollars, approximately 193 trillion won, to produce Patriot missiles and submarines.

This is also interpreted as a strategic move to preempt concerns over shortages in interceptor missile stockpiles and to prepare for a protracted war with Iran.

The unyielding chicken game between the United States and Iran is pushing the entire Middle East into the quagmire of a massive war.

(Photo: Yonhap News / Video by Oh Jung-shik, Video Editing by Chae Chul-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.