Trump says Iran is a ‘failed nation’ as Operation Epic Fury pressures regime

56 mins agoIran’s foreign minister claims US has lost ‘far higher’ than 81 aircraft during war

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Thursday that the U.S. military has lost more aircraft during the war than the Congressional Research Service has reported. 

“In May, the Congressional Research Service admitted that Iran’s Armed Forces had taken out 42 U.S. military aircraft. Now: 81. Real toll is far higher,” Araghchi wrote on X. 

The aircraft that were lost included some of the military’s most advanced fighters and critical support aircraft, as well as dozens of drones, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) noted in its report. 

CRS, a nonpartisan arm of the Library of Congress that provides research and analysis to lawmakers and congressional committees, identified 12 F-15E Strike Eagles, an F-35A Lightning II, seven KC-135 refueling tankers, an E-3 Sentry airborne warning-and-control aircraft and 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones among those lost or damaged since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, 2026. 

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this post.