WASHINGTON: U.S. commandos reportedly conducted a deep‑penetration mission into Iranian territory to rescue a downed airman, according to American media on Sunday, hours after President Donald Trump confirmed that the crew member had been recovered “safe and sound.”
Tehran stated earlier this week that it had shot down an F-15 fighter jet, marking the first U.S. warplane lost inside Iran since the conflict began. Washington has not verified the circumstances surrounding the jet’s downing.
President Donald Trump said early Sunday that the U.S. military had “pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. history” to recover a highly respected crew member, a colonel, who he confirmed was now “SAFE and SOUND!”
According to the New York Times, Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos carried out the extraction, while U.S. attack aircraft bombed and fired on Iranian convoys to prevent interference. Axios reported that the weapon systems officer, wounded during ejection, managed to evade capture in the mountains for more than a day but was still able to walk.
The airman was equipped with a pistol, a beacon, and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers, the New York Times added. U.S. commandos on the ground reportedly fired their weapons to keep Iranian forces away from the rescue site.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had ordered “dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the world, to retrieve” the officer. “He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” he added.
Two transport planes intended to evacuate the airman and rescuers became stuck at a remote Iranian base and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, according to the New York Times and CBS. U.S. forces then used three other transport planes to successfully carry the airman and his rescuers out of Iran.
The Iranian military claimed the rescue operation used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran’s central military command, said the U.S. mission, which he described as a “deception and escape operation,” was “completely foiled,” claiming that two U.S. C-130 transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed.
Reports also indicate that the CIA conducted a deception campaign within Iran, spreading the impression that the airman was being moved out of the country overland.
Trump further confirmed the “successful rescue of another brave pilot, yesterday,” which was not disclosed at the time to avoid compromising the operation. He wrote, “This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory,” noting that both missions concluded “without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded.”
AFP has contacted the White House and Pentagon for comment.
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