Know if the viral photo suggesting Iran’s capture of Israeli female pilot Sarah Ahronot is real or fake
Iran’s Army (Artesh) has downed a third Israeli F-35 stealth fighter jet, likely by Iranian-made air defenses, the Iranian media is claiming.
According to claims in Tehran Times, a statement by the Army added that the F-35 pilot was captured after ejecting over western Iran and with this latest incident, Iran is claiming to have neutralized three F-35 fighter jets since Israel began attacking Iranian military and nuclear facilities.
Is Sarah Ahronot the name of the Israeli pilot of the F-35 Israel fighter jet pilot downed by Iran
🚨 Israeli female pilot Sarah Ahronot arrested in Iran. 🇮🇷🇮🇱#Iran #Tehran #Israel #IsraelIranWar #IsraelTerroristState pic.twitter.com/EG1c9eEFCw
— Hamza Ali Khattak (@Hamzaktk_1) June 14, 2025
Iran’s Press TV said: “Iran has earned the distinction of being the first country in the world to successfully shoot down fifth-generation fighter jets by targeting two stealth F-35 fighters belonging to the Zionist regime.”
The IDF has meanwhile vehemently rejected the claims. “Fake Iranian media,” said Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman. “This news being spread by Iranian media is completely baseless.”
Meanwhile, several images circulating on social media, purportedly showing an Israeli F-35 being downed over Tehran and a female pilot named “Sarah Ahronot” captured by Iranian forces, were found to be unrelated to the current Israel-Iran conflict. The viral claims emerged amid heightened tensions between the two nations, following a wave of retaliatory airstrikes early Saturday.
According to reports reviewed by fact-checkers, the viral image depicting a fighter jet in flames had actually originated from an incident that occurred in November 2015, when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. A reverse image search confirmed that the original image—widely published at the time—was taken during that incident. A side-by-side comparison revealed identical features such as the jet’s contrails and tail section. Digital analysis further suggested that the viral image claiming Sarah was the pilot of the downed Israeli F35 had been edited.
Israeli female pilot, Sarah Ahronot, has been captured in Iran. pic.twitter.com/q4rWj4k7lV
— Iran's Reply (@IranReply) June 13, 2025
As for the image of the so-called captured female pilot, fact-checkers traced it to a 2021 article by aviation platform Aeroflap, which identified the woman as Lieutenant Daniela Figueroa Scholz—the first female pilot trained by the Chilean Navy. Her name was clearly visible on both her uniform and badge, which read “Teniente Segundo; Armada De Chile” (Second Lieutenant; Chilean Navy) and she is a Chilean and not an Israeli as is being claimed.
Additionally, no credible news outlet reported the existence of an Israeli pilot named Sarah Ahronot, nor did the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirm any such incident. A keyword search yielded no reliable results linking that name to any current military personnel or combat event. The rumors surfaced after Iranian state media claimed that two Israeli jets had been shot down and a female pilot captured, allegations that were categorically denied by the IDF.
These claims gained traction online following Tehran’s counteroffensive under Operation True Promise 3, launched in response to Israel’s earlier airstrikes dubbed Operation Rising Lion. In conclusion, fact-checkers have determined that the viral images were not linked to the ongoing conflict. One originated from a decade-old military encounter involving Russia and Turkey, while the other featured a Chilean Navy officer completely unrelated to the events in the Middle East.