On Nov. 30, Al Jazeera aired grainy footage obtained by local Iraqi media on Nov. 24 of an F-4 Phantom jet striking Islamic State (IS) targets in eastern Iraq. The report led to speculation of whether Iran was conducting bombings inside Iraq and denials by both the United States and Iran of cooperation between the two countries.
Jane’s Defense Weekly reported, “Iran and Turkey are the only regional operators of the F-4, and the location of the incident not far from the Iranian border, and Turkey’s unwillingness to get involved in the conflict militarily, indicate this to be an Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force … aircraft.” Iran had purchased the American aircraft before the 1979 revolution, when Iran and the United States were on friendly terms.
