Iranian media says three pilots among dead in latest US strikes

Three pilots among those killed in the strikes on Iran two nights ago, as Iranian state-affiliated media reported Thursday, Tehran revised the death toll from the latest escalation between the two countries.

The reports identified the pilots among US military personnel killed in attacks, but did not provide any further information on who they were or how they died.

Iran’s Health Ministry said 18 were killed and 142 wounded in US hits on the nights of Aug. 30th  and Sept. 2. The fatalities included four members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force in Kermanshah province and three Basij members on Lavan Island.

The US’s latest strikes came days after initial Iranian military targets and subsequent Iranian missile and drone strikes on US and associated sites in the area.

The US Central Command forces struck Iranian air defence systems, radar facilities, maritime capabilities and other military sites, it added. Iranian officials condemned the attacks, blaming Washington for raising tensions.

Attacks and interceptions are being reported across the Gulf and neighbouring countries, with renewed fighting stoking fears of a wider regional confrontation.