Iranian F-5 fighter jet crashes in Khuzestan, killing pilot

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A pilot was killed and his co-pilot hospitalized when their Iranian F-5 fighter jet crashed while attempting to land in the country’s southwestern province of Khuzestan, according to state media reports. 

The training aircraft – bought from the US before the 1979 Islamic revolution – crashed in Dezful, according to IRNA news agency. It is not known what caused the accident. 

Tehran unveiled its first domestically built fighter jet last week, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the Iran-Iraq War. The new jet is closely modeled on the aging F-5.