Iran claims it struck US F-35, RT journalists targeted by Israeli strike (Videos, PHOTOS)

RT correspondent Steve Sweeney, who came under an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon on Thursday, has told RT’s Rick Sanchez that he and his cameraman, Ali Rida, were “fine” after receiving treatment for their injuries at a local hospital. Sweeney detailed that he had suffered shrapnel wounds to his arms.

“Just watching that footage back now, you realize just how lucky we were, really,” the journalist said, adding that he was “amazed that we survived.”

Sweeney recounted that Israeli fighter jets had been roaring overhead for some time, which was not at all surprising in southern Lebanon, when, all of a sudden, he and his colleague heard a missile coming in. Everything was happening in a “little bit of slow motion,” he recalled.

According to Sweeney, the incident bore all the hallmarks of a “deliberate and targeted attack” since the bridge that the missile hit had already been destroyed.

“This was definitely, without any shadow of a doubt, this was a precision strike to kill us,” Sweeney stated, adding that he and Rida had “milliseconds” to try and get out of the incoming missile’s way. The correspondent concluded that he and his cameraman had survived “by luck.”

Commenting on Thursday’s Israeli strike on RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and his cameraman, Ali Rida, in southern Lebanon, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted that both journalists were wearing clearly distinguishable ‘press’ insignia and were holding only cameras and microphones at the time of the attack. She added that the Israeli strike hit an area where there were no military facilities.

“All these circumstances point to a deliberate and targeted attack on the journalists,” according to the Russian diplomat. Moscow views the Israeli strike on the RT crew as a “gross violation of international law,” and expects UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and other human rights organizations to give a due assessment of what happened, Zakharova stated.

She also insisted on the need for a comprehensive investigation of the attack by the Israeli authorities to bring those responsible to account and prevent similar incidents from recurring.

The diplomat said that the Israeli ambassador to Russia, Oded Joseph, would be summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow over the incident.

Iranian media has published footage supposedly depicting the moment air defenses zeroed in on a US F-35 fighter jet. According to media reports, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the warplane was “hit and severely damaged” over central Iran early on Thursday.

The IDF has claimed to have for the first time struck Iranian missile ships in the Caspian Sea, posting footage on X that allegedly shows some of the strikes. Additionally, auxiliary vessels, patrol boats, a Navy headquarters, as well as repair and maintenance infrastructure was targeted, according to the Israeli military.

An alleged supporter of the former Iranian monarchy, which was deposed by the Islamic Revolution in 1979, harassed Iranian female footballers in Australia by repeatedly ramming his pickup truck into the athletes’ bus, Press TV has claimed. The Iranian media outlet posted a short video on its X account, which purportedly recorded the incident.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has described as “unacceptable” the Israeli airstrike on RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and his cameraman Ali Rida in Lebanon. He said that war correspondents are risking life and limb in conflict zones and are displaying “heroism.” Both journalists sustained non-life-threatening injuries after coming under attack by an Israeli aircraft.

The latest generation US F-35 fighter jet may have been struck by Iranian fire and forced to make an emergency landing at a US air base in the Middle East, CNN reports, citing two anonymous sources. If confirmed, the incident would mark the first time an American aircraft has been hit by Iranian air defenses since the hostilities flared up in late February.

CNN quoted Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for US Central Command, as saying the warplane, which costs upwards of $100 million, was “flying a combat mission over Iran” when it was forced to make an emergency landing.

“The pilot is in stable condition,” Hawkins said, adding that the “incident is under investigation,” as quoted by the media outlet.

©  Getty Images/Eliyahu Parypa

Israeli media has reported that a fire has broken out at Israel’s Bazan oil refinery in Haifa following a series of missile strikes by Iran. The plant is considered the largest and most critical facility in Israel, supplying about 50-60% of the country’s fuel.

Reports also suggest that the Krayot suburbs of the Haifa region have been experiencing power outages as a result of the Iranian attacks.

After the Israeli airstrike on RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and his cameraman Ali Rida, the Israel Defense Forces released a statement claiming that it has seen footage about a journalist near the Qasmiya crossing, but did not provide further details or mention the RT crew by name. 

The IDF only stated that “an explicit warning had been issued regarding the area,” and claimed that it “does not target civilians or journalists and operates in accordance with international law.”

Both Sweeny and his cameraman were wearing clearly labeled press gear and were not near any potential targets during the coverage. They also reported that Israeli aircraft had been operating in the area for some time before they came under attack.

US strikes on Iran and the continued killing of top Iranian officials will achieve nothing but further enrage the Iranian people and make any sort of negotiations between Washington and Tehran impossible, former CIA officer Philip Giraldi has told RT.

Commenting on Trump’s statement that he would eventually like to make a deal with Iran, Giraldi stated that “it would be very difficult to find someone willing to negotiate with the US under any circumstances now that the last two negotiations led to a surprise attack in both cases. This is a non-starter.”

The only way to end the conflict, according to Giraldi, is for Trump to announce a US withdrawal and admit that “the venture was a mistake” and cut ties with Israel.