Day 35 of Operation Epic Fury delivered the most dramatic escalation yet — a US F-15E Strike Eagle shot down over Iranian territory, a second warplane lost in the Gulf, and the total collapse of ceasefire negotiations that had been the last thread of diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
It was the kind of day that makes military planners lose sleep and diplomats reach for the phone — except on April 3, 2026, nobody was picking up. Iran rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire, refused to meet American officials in Islamabad, and declared Washington’s demands “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, wreckage of an American fighter jet lay scattered across southwestern Iran, and a desperate search-and-rescue mission was underway for a missing crew member.
Five weeks into the most significant US military operation since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the conflict is intensifying — not winding down.
F-15E Shot Down: First US Warplane Lost to Iranian Fire
The US military confirmed that an F-15E Strike Eagle carrying two crew members was shot down by Iranian air defenses on Friday — the first American warplane brought down by hostile fire since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28.
One crew member was rescued by US forces in a harrowing extraction operation. The second remains missing, with a search-and-rescue effort ongoing inside Iranian territory. Two US military helicopters involved in the rescue were struck by Iranian fire, though their crews returned safely to base, according to US officials cited by NBC News.
Iran’s military didn’t stop there. The Islamic Republic claimed it also downed a second US aircraft — an A-10 Thunderbolt II, known as the “Warthog” — over the Persian Gulf. US officials confirmed the A-10 was hit by Iranian fire but said the aircraft managed to limp into Kuwaiti airspace before the pilot ejected safely. The plane crashed in Kuwait.
President Trump, in his first remarks since the shootdowns, told reporters the loss of the F-15E “won’t affect negotiations” and that the US military campaign would continue unabated.
Ceasefire Collapse: Iran Says ‘No’ to Everything
If the shootdowns were the military story of the day, the diplomatic collapse was arguably more consequential.
According to Reuters, citing Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency, Tehran rejected a US proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire that had been delivered through a “friendly” intermediary country on Thursday. But it didn’t end there.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran rejected all US demands and refused to send representatives to meet American officials in Islamabad, Pakistan — where mediation efforts led by Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt had been the last viable diplomatic channel.
“Current mediation efforts led by regional countries, including Pakistan, to broker a ceasefire between the United States and Iran have reached a dead end,” Ynet News reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Iran’s position has hardened considerably. Tehran described Washington’s 15-point peace plan as “extremely maximalist and unreasonable” and insisted that any ceasefire must include Lebanon — effectively tying a truce to the parallel 2026 Lebanon conflict that erupted alongside the Iran war.
With Islamabad off the table, Turkey and Egypt are reportedly scrambling to find alternative venues. Qatar and Istanbul have emerged as the leading candidates to host a new round of talks — if talks can even restart.
Infrastructure War Escalates: Bridges, Steel Plants, and Research Centers
The military campaign continued to expand its target list this week. US forces struck the B1 (Bileghan) Bridge connecting Tehran and Karaj in Alborz Province on April 2, cutting a critical route Iran had been using to transport missiles and missile components from Tehran to launch sites in western Iran.
Trump celebrated the bridge strike on social media and warned Iran to “make a deal before it’s too late.” He previously threatened to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages” — language that drew sharp criticism from European allies.
Other targets hit in recent days include steel plants, the century-old Pasteur Institute medical research center in Tehran, and a Red Crescent aid warehouse in Bushehr province. The expanding target list signals that the US is moving beyond purely military objectives to strike Iran’s industrial and logistical infrastructure.
Iran has been firing back. Tehran launched over 20 missiles targeting Israel between April 1 and 2, and the Houthis — who entered the conflict on March 28 — have launched at least four rounds of ballistic missiles targeting southern Israel. Iran also struck a Kuwait oil refinery and hit targets in Gulf states, including an attack on a gas complex in Abu Dhabi that killed one person and injured four.
NATO on the Brink
The war’s shockwaves now threaten to crack the NATO alliance itself. Reuters reported Friday that the US-Israeli war with Iran — thousands of miles from Europe — has “nearly broken” the 76-year-old bloc and threatens to leave it “in its weakest state since its creation.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has been the most vocal European critic of the operation, clashing publicly with Trump over the war’s scope and civilian impact. The diplomatic rift between Washington and its traditional European allies is widening by the day.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan jointly called for an immediate ceasefire on Friday — a rare alignment that underscores just how isolated the US-Israeli coalition has become on the world stage.
The Energy Crisis Deepens
The Strait of Hormuz — the world’s most critical oil chokepoint — remains a flashpoint. Iran has been selectively allowing some vessels through while blocking others, creating a chaotic shipping environment. Reuters reported that three Omani-operated tankers, a French-owned container ship, and a Japanese-owned gas carrier have crossed the strait since Thursday, reflecting Iran’s policy of allowing passage only for vessels it deems “friendly.”
Oil prices continue to surge, and the Washington Post reported that painful fuel shortages are now driving violence and instability across parts of Asia — a cascading consequence of the disruption to global energy markets.
Three US Navy Carrier Strike Groups remain deployed in support of Operation Epic Fury, along with two Amphibious Ready Groups with Marine Expeditionary Units, according to The War Zone’s carrier tracker.
What Happens Next?
Day 35 made one thing painfully clear: this war is not ending anytime soon.
The ceasefire collapse removes the last active diplomatic framework. The shootdown of a US warplane raises the stakes — and the political pressure on Trump to either escalate further or find an off-ramp. The missing crew member adds an emotional, human dimension that will dominate news cycles in the days ahead.
CENTCOM has stated that the combined force has “significantly degraded Iran’s ability to launch missiles from western Iran” since the war began. But Iran continues to strike back, the Houthis have opened a second front, and the global economic fallout is accelerating.
As one defense analyst told CBS News: the wreckage of that F-15 scattered across Iranian soil is a reminder that five weeks in, Operation Epic Fury is far from over — and the costs are mounting on all sides.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as new information becomes available.