Bemusement as Iranian military claim US rescue operation was 'foiled'

by · Mail Online

Iranian military claimed that the US rescue operation, which saved two trapped American airmen, had been 'completely foiled'.  

The statement came after US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the officer had been rescued in a search and rescue operation and was 'SAFE and SOUND'.

'The so-called US military rescue operation, planned as a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan under the pretext of recovering the pilot of a downed aircraft, was completely foiled,' said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the military's central command, Khatam Al-Anbiya.

In a video statement carried by state television, he said that 'two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed' during the two-day operation. The US has not confirmed this.

He added that Trump went ahead with 'empty rhetoric and diversion, although the reality on the ground demonstrates the superior position of Iran's powerful armed forces.'

It comes after US special forces had to destroy two of their own planes as they completed an audacious rescue of the airman trapped behind enemy lines.

The airman, alongside a pilot, had been in an F-15 fighter jet, which was shot down over a remote area of Iran on Friday.

The pilot had safely ejected and was rescued by two military helicopters the same day, but the second crew member had remained missing.

Iranian state media released images of the search and rescue planes which it claimed it shot down, though the US military says it 'blew [them] up' themselves
The planes were seen completely destroyed on the remote airfield inside Iran
US forces involved in the rescue mission were forced to destroy two of their own planes after they became stuck in the remote Iranian airbase

The missing crew member, who President Trump said was a highly respected colonel, evaded pursuing Iranians for almost two days while Reaper drones overhead protected him from danger.

Armed with only a handgun to protect him and injured from his ejection from the F-15, the colonel hid from danger before making a daring dash to the rescue site.

The complex rescue mission involved hundreds of special forces personnel along with several dozen warplanes and helicopters.

A firefight broke out on the ground as Iranian forces closed in on the stricken colonel.

As they made the extraction, two of the five rescue planes became stuck in a remote airfield inside Iran and were blown up by special forces to avoid being captured by the enemy.

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President Donald Trump touted the operation late Saturday night as 'one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History'.

Iranian forces had been deceived after the CIA spread the word that US forces had already found the colonel.

The colonel was forced to hide and evade capture for a nerve-racking 36 hours deep inside Iranian territory in harsh terrain.

According to Axios, the colonel had been injured during ejection from the F-15 jet but remained mobile as he hid in the mountains.

Following the downing of two US aircraft on Friday, Iran placed a $60,000 bounty on the heads of the US airmen, vowing to seek revenge on US military forces for the conflict.

Before the rescue mission took place, the official X account for the Iranian Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, released harrowing new images of the destroyed F-15E jet, accompanied by a taunting caption.

'The stealth fighter that now has no escape but to lie under the feet of aerospace warriors,' the embassy wrote.

'That same stealth giant, for which they wove legends for years, is today a pile of scrap metal fallen to the ground - this is the very technology they claimed was invisible and untouchable,' it added. 'But now it has been seen and brought down.'

Trump touted the success of the rescue mission on Saturday evening in a Truth social post
Pictured: The ejected seat from the US aircraft as published in Iranian media  
A second US airman shot down over Iran was rescued in a daring rescue mission following a fierce firefight with the IRGC, reports say. The wreckage of the pilot's F-15E fighter jet is pictured

Bombs and weapons were fired from US warplanes to keep Iranian troops away from the stranded colonel.

At one point, he reached elevations of around 7,000 feet as he sought to evade capture from Iranian forces.

As US forces closed in on the stranded officer, a firefight broke out with Iranian troops.

Three rescue planes flew out of Iran to Kuwait, and the mission was completed just before midnight.

President Trump confirmed that the colonel was injured but will be 'just fine', as he celebrated snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

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Trump said this was the first time in military history that two US pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in 'Enemy Territory', as he defiantly said that no American warfighter would ever be left behind.

He added that dozens of aircraft armed with 'the most lethal weapons in the World' were sent by the US military to retrieve him after monitoring his location '24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.'

'This brave warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,' Trump added in a Truth Social post. 

State media on Sunday shared images of charred wreckage scattered across a desert area, with smoke still rising from the site.

Each of the three photos showed what was left of the jet: an unrecognisable mass of burnt debris strewn across a wide, empty stretch of land.

On Friday, a video also showed Iranian bullets being fired at a Black Hawk helicopter, which was thought to be involved in the search for the missing F-15 crew.

It came after Trump said earlier on Truth Social that US forces had 'terminated' several of Iran's military leaders, sharing footage appearing to show an airstrike taking out top IRGC commanders.

Iranian media reported that strikes during the rescue operation killed five people in the southwest, although it was not immediately clear whether they were civilians or military.

However, Trump gloated that both operations were concluded 'without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded.' 

The announcement of the rescue came as Iran launched missiles and drones at Israel and Kuwait early Sunday, and a day after Trump said the Islamic Republic had 48 hours to cut a deal or face 'all Hell'.

The President referred to an ultimatum he issued on March 26, saying: 'Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT, Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them.'

Iran's central military command rejected the ultimatum, with General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi saying Trump's threat was a 'helpless, nervous, unbalanced and stupid action'.

Echoing Trump's language, he warned that 'the gates of hell will open for you'.

Pakistan has offered to mediate efforts to end the war, and according to Iranian media, Pakistan's foreign minister and his Iranian counterpart spoke by phone on Saturday.

However, there was no sign of a let-up in the violence, and Kuwait and Israel said their air defences were responding Sunday to the latest attacks from Iran.

The United Arab Emirates also said its air defences were responding to missile attacks that Tehran said were targeting the country's aluminium industries, while Bahrain officials reported a fire at a refinery 'as a result of Iranian aggression'.