Iran FM says to issue protest to Kuwait over US aircraft downing

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the country will submit an official note of protest to the Kuwaiti government following claims regarding the downing of three United States F-15 fighter jets.

The remarks came following a US military announcement that Kuwaiti air defense systems, which are American-made, accidentally intercepted and destroyed the US aircraft late on Sunday.

In a relevant development, Iran’s Khatam Al-Anbiya Air Defense Base said on Monday that Iranian Armed Forces have shot down an advanced US F-15 fighter jet near the border with Kuwait, the first downing of an American fighter jet in the past 27 years.

Speaking to IRIB’s news network on the incident, Iran’s Foreign Minister demanded transparency regarding the Kuwaiti narrative.

"If the claim is true that these aircraft were downed by Kuwaiti defenses, Kuwait must answer for what these planes were doing there in the first place," the minister stated.

He further mocked the technical reliability of Western military hardware, noting the irony of American systems targeting their own aircraft.

"They claim to possess superior military technology, yet they suffer repeated operational failures… Their own systems hit their own planes? This calls their prestige into question."

The Foreign Minister said the claim, if true, challenged the assertions from regional neighbors that their territories are not being used as launchpads for US operations against Iran.

He suggested two possibilities: either the jets were operating from regional soil despite denials, or they were operating within Iranian airspace when they were struck.

"This incident proves that despite the image they have projected, they are internally vulnerable and unable to defend themselves," the minister added.

He contrasted this with Iran’s missile capabilities, asserting that Iranian strikes consistently hit their targets despite multiple layers of Western defense.

"It has been shown that it is not true to think that no one can stand against them, and they can be confronted. The important thing is to believe in ourselves. God has promised victory if we stand strong,” he said.

‘Ayatollah Khamenei a great religious leader’

Araghchi also touched upon the deep religious impact of the US-Israeli assassination of the late Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Describing him as a renowned religious figure whose influence transcended political borders, the minister highlighted his status as a "great religious leader" for the global Islamic Ummah.

He said the wave of protests worldwide reflects the spiritual depth of the Leader’s following.

Araghchi condemned the double standards of Western human rights rhetoric, pointing to a recent incident where 10 protesters were reportedly killed by U.S. consulate guards in Pakistan during a demonstration against Ayatollah Khamenei’s martyrdom.

"They criticize us for confronting demonstrators who were terrorists and entered with weapons, yet guards of the US consulate fire upon people gathering in protest against the martyrdom of the Leader,” he said.

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