WASHINGTON โ An American military refueling plane went down in Iraq and rescue efforts were underway, U.S. Central Command said Thursday.
The KC-135 aircraft was part of the operation against Iran, but the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire, the military said in a statement.
A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refueling tanker aircraft takes off Aug. 30, 2023, from the Kadena Air Base airfield in Kadena Town, Japan.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said two aircraft were involved and that one landed safely and the other went down in western Iraq. It described the latter as "a loss."
A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the developing situation, said the other plane involved also was a KC-135 tanker.
"More information will be made available as the situation develops," Central Command said in a statement. "We ask for continued patience to gather additional details and provide clarity for the families of service members."
A North American Aerospace Defense Command F-16 fighter refuels Feb. 19 from a KC-135 Stratotanker over western Alaska.
It wasn't immediately clear if there were any casualties. Both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that the Iran war would likely claim more American lives before it ends.
The tanker is the fourth publicly acknowledged aircraft to crash as part of the U.S. military's operations against Iran. Last week, the military confirmed that three American fighter jets were mistakenly downed by friendly Kuwaiti fire.
All six crew members safely ejected from the F-15E Strike Eagles and were in stable condition after being recovered, the U.S. said.
Seven American troops were killed in combat during the Iran war so far.
Six of the service members were killed when an Iranian drone struck an operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait. The seventh died after being wounded during an attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
About 140 U.S. service members were wounded, including eight severely, the Pentagon said this week.
Photos from Iran, Israel and Lebanon in the 2nd week of the Iran war
Smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, at sunset in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A boy runs inside cement pipe turned into a bomb shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missile strike in Michmoret, Israel, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man passes in front of a destroyed building that housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a non-bank financial institution run by Hezbollah, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
People walk past closed shops at the nearly empty traditional main bazaar in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorbikes drive past a billboard depicting Iranโs late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, handing the countryโs flag to his son and successor Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, right, as the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini stands at left, in a square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh Beirut's southern suburbs, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man holds a poster of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, during a rally to support him in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People wave Iranian flags as they hold posters of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, showing him at different ages, during a rally to support his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeds his father as the new supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People gather in a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The coffin of Mehdi Hosseini, a man killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike, is carried for burial at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A girl displaced by Israeli airstrikes, looks on at a school used as a shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Relatives mourn over the flag draped coffin of Mehdi Hosseini who was killed in a U.S.-Israeli strike during his burial ceremony at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli security forces and ZAKA rescue service members carry the body of a man killed in an Iranian missile strike in Yehud, Israel, Monday, March 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a cordoned-off area damaged during an Iranian strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Mourners carry the bodies of Hezbollah fighters who were killed by Israeli airstrikes during their funeral procession in Khraibeh village, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Residents look on and take pictures as flames and smoke rise from an oil storage facility struck as attacks hit the city during the U.S.โIsraeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Alireza Sotakbar/ISNA via AP)
