Iranian state-affiliated media on Thursday aired interviews with pilots who claimed to have participated in an airstrike against a US military base in Kuwait, offering their account of the operation and the events that followed.
According to the pilots, Iranian fighter aircraft carried out an attack on what they identified as the US Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The pilots described the strike as highly successful and claimed it caused extensive damage within the targeted area.
One pilot said the explosions and fires resulting from the attack were visible from the air.
"It was as if God turned each of our bombs into many bombs," the pilot said during the interview.
The pilots claimed they observed multiple US helicopters catch fire and explode following the strike, adding that the attack caused confusion and disruption at the base.
They said air defence systems were activated shortly after the bombardment began and that missiles were fired into the sky in response to the attack.
According to one of the pilots, the officer seated behind him in the cockpit reported seeing explosions in the air as the operation unfolded.
The pilots said they initially struggled to determine the source and target of the missile launches and described the situation as chaotic.
In one of the most significant claims made during the interview, the pilots alleged that three US F-15 fighter jets approaching Iranian aircraft were mistakenly engaged and shot down by Kuwaiti forces after being misidentified as hostile targets.
The pilots claimed the aircraft were destroyed during the confusion that followed the strike.
They also said Iranian aircraft were able to evade interception because of tactics employed during the mission and claimed opposing forces were unable to effectively track or stop them.
The interviews come amid heightened tensions in the region following recent military exchanges involving Iran and the United States and ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at reducing regional instability.
Analysts note that wartime claims by parties involved in a conflict are often difficult to verify independently and may differ from official accounts released by other governments or military organisations.