Two C-130 aircraft were lost during the operation, an official said.
President Donald Trump announced "major combat operations" against Iran on Feb. 28, with massive joint U.S.-Israeli strikes attack targeting military and government sites, officials said.
Watch special coverage on Nightline, "War with Iran," each night on ABC and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
An American fighter jet appears to have been shot down by Iran, according to three U.S. officials. Search and rescue operations are currently underway, the officials said.
President Donald Trump said that with a “little more time,” the U.S. could open the Strait of Hormuz and take oil from it– making a “fortune” for America, in a post on social media.
“IT WOULD BE A “GUSHER” FOR THE WORLD???” Trump wrote.
The president's claim comes after the White House’s intervention in Venezuela last year led to American re-development of Venezuela's oil industry.
Trump touted his administration’s work on the “production and sale of massive amounts of oil and gas,” in Venezuela during his Iran-focused primetime address to the nation on Wednesday.
“And now we're working along with Venezuela and are, in a true sense, joint venture partners. We're getting along incredibly well in the production and sale of massive amounts of oil and gas, the second largest reserves on Earth after the United States of America,” Trump said.
At the same time, Trump has in recent days issued a variety of conflicting statements about whether the Strait of Hormuz needs to be reopened in order for him to end the war in Iran, repeatedly attempting to shift responsibility away from the U.S. for re-opening the Strait.
Israel and the United States will "continue to crush" Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday during remarks at a military facility in Tel Aviv.
"Together with our American friends, we continue to crush the terrorist regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, bombing bridges, bombing infrastructure," Netanyahu said.
"In full coordination between me and President [Donald] Trump, between the IDF and the United States military, we will continue to crush Iran. This regime is weaker than ever - Israel is stronger than ever," Netanyahu added.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller
Fires were reported at a Kuwaiti oil refinery after a drone attack while another fire at gas facility in the United Arab Emirates was sparked by falling debris after an interception, authorities reported Friday.
There were no injuries, but several fires were reported in operational units at the Mina Al-Ahmadi Refinery after "a malicious drone attack," the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said in a press release posted on X.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to a fire at the Habshan gas facilities ignited by falling debris after a "successful interception," the Abu Dhabi government media said in a post in X.
No injuries were reported in that incident, but operations at the Habshan facility were suspended as authorities worked to put out the fire.
-ABC News' Othon Leyva
