TEHRAN - An Iranian US-made F5 fighter jet crashed in the southwestern Khuzestan province, the official IRNA agency reported on Monday.
The accident took place at 10:00 am local time (0530 GMT) at the Omideh military base. No details were given on casualties or the circumstances of the incident.
The Iranian air force has been hit hard by the US embargo on selling spare parts and new jets to Iran, which means the country must work intensely to find spare parts to keep its fleet in the air.
Many of Iran's planes are of American origin like the F5 and were bought in a massive arms-buying spree by the pro-US shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Iran also has Russian jets, but over the last years has been announcing what it says is the development of entirely home-produced fighter jets such as the Saegheh and Arazakhsh.
sgh-sjw/bpz
07/07/2008 12:22 GMT