A U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker tanker aircraft flies over Tel Aviv on March 4, 2026.
Jack Ghez | AFP | Getty Images
The U.S. military said Thursday that a KC-135 military refueling plane crashed while flying over Iraq and that the crash was “not caused by enemy fire.”
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the incident involved two aircraft and occurred in friendly airspace. One of the planes crashed in western Iraq, while the second landed safely, it added.
“The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and a rescue operation is underway, U.S. Central Command said, referring to the war against Iran that has led to retaliatory strikes by Tehran across the Middle East.
It is unclear how many U.S. military personnel were on board the crashed KC-135 refueling plane.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the downing of the US military plane in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
This is the fourth reported aircraft loss since the Iran war began, after three F-15 jets were shot down in a friendly fire from Kuwait’s air defenses.
The KC-135 cost $39.6 million in 1998, according to the U.S. Air Force, and is typically used to refuel other aircraft in the air.
America will be “sorry”
The aircraft loss came as Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, said Tehran would “feel sorry” to the United States for starting the Iran war.
“Trump says he wants a quick victory. It’s easy to start a war, but you can’t win it with a few tweets,” Larijani said in a post on X early Friday morning.
His statement followed comments by Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei that the Strait of Hormuz sea passage should remain closed as a “means to put pressure on the enemy.”
Khamenei also said in televised comments translated by Reuters that all US military bases in the Middle East should be closed immediately and warned that “those bases will be attacked.”
More foreign ships were attacked in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence that “we won” in Iran and that the war would end “soon.”
Iran has also warned that oil prices could rise to $200 a barrel, accusing the United States of destabilizing regional security, Ebrahim Zolfakari, a spokesman for Iran’s military command, said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
—CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Holly Ellyatt contributed to this report.
