"Can Anyone Find Our Pilots?" Ghalibaf Mocks Trump After 2 US Jets Downed

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian Parliament speaker, took a dig at the United States President Donald Trump, calling the US and Israel's joint attack on Tehran as "no-strategy war." The comment came after Iran claimed to have shot down two US military aircraft- the F-15 and the A-10 - and hit two Black Hawk helicopters in a day.

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"After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from "regime change" to "Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?" ," Ghalibaf wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). A pleading face emoticon accompanied the dig.

"Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses," he added.

After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from “regime change” to “Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?🥺”

Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.

— محمدباقر قالیباف | MB Ghalibaf (@mb_ghalibaf) April 3, 2026

The US and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on February 28, killing the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This followed the killings of Aziz Nasirzadeh, Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics; Mohammad Shirazi, Chief of Military Bureau of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; Ali Samkhani, Supreme Leader's Advisor for Security Affairs and Secretary of the Defense Council; Hossein Jabal Amelian, Chairman of the SPND.

🔴ELIMINATED:
IAF fighter jets precisely struck military targets across Iran, eliminating 7 senior officials of the Iranian Defense Leadership:

Ali Shamkhani, Mohammad Pakpour, Saleh Asadi, Mohammad Shirazi, Aziz Nasirzadeh, Hossein Jabal Amelian, Reza Mozaffari-Nia.

The world… pic.twitter.com/4oOj2Y7DMt

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 28, 2026

This led to A change of leadership in Iran, with Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, taking over.

Trump's Ever-Changing Stance On "Regime Change"

In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, on April 1, Trump called the "Iran's New Regime President, much less Radicalized and far more intelligent than his predecessors."

However, during his national address on Thursday, Trump said that regime change in Iran was not the stated goal of the war and suggested leadership shifts had already taken place. "Regime change was not our goal... but regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' deaths," he said.

He called the Islamic regime running the country "thuggish and murderous", pointing to a recent crackdown on protests in the country, which killed thousands of citizens. 

"Leaders like that cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon," he said.

"From the very first day I announced my campaign, I have vowed that I would never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. This fanatical regime has been chanting "Death to America" for 47 years -- and it should have been handled long before I arrived in office," he said.

He claimed that he tried the diplomatic approach first. "Yet, the regime continued its relentless quest for nuclear weapons and rejected every attempt at an agreement."

Iran Claims F-15 And A-10 Shot Down

Iran on Friday claimed to have struck two US military aircrafts - a  two-seat F-15 jet and a single-pilot aircraft, an A-10, known as the Warthog.

The F-15 fighter jet is crewed by a pilot and a weapons-system officer in the back seat. US media outlets reported that one of the two crew members had been rescued by special forces, and a search was underway for the second.

Also Read | "We're In War": Trump Says Downing Of US Aircraft Won't Affect Iran Talks

The A-10 made it to Kuwaiti airspace, where the pilot ejected and the aircraft crashed, the official said. The pilot is safe and the A-10 is down in Kuwait, according to the official, NBC News reported.

Iran also claimed it hit two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search and rescue.