- Mechanical failure forced risky extraction, destruction of US aircraft in Iran.
- CIA ran disinformation campaign, jammed electronics, bombed roads to aid rescue.
- Airman confirmed his identity to avoid potential Iranian trap for rescuers.
The rescue had unfolded with almost perfect precision. Under cover of darkness, U.S. commandos slipped deep into Iran, undetected, scaled a 7,000-foot ridge and pulled a stranded U.S. weapons specialist to safety, moving him toward a secret rendezvous before dawn Sunday.
Then everything stopped.
Two MC-130 planes carrying some of the 100 or so special operations forces into rough terrain south of Tehran suffered a mechanical failure and were unable to take off, a US official said. Reutersspeaking on condition of anonymity.
Suddenly, elite commandos risked getting stuck behind enemy lines.
Their commanders made a high-risk decision and ordered additional aircraft to fly into Iran to extract the group in waves—a decision that left the elite commandos waiting for a tense few hours.
“If there was a ‘holy crap’ moment, this was it,” said the official, who credited quick decision-making with saving the day. The official, along with others who spoke to Reuters for this story, were granted anonymity to speak candidly about the operation.
The gamble worked. The rescue force was withdrawn in stages, and US troops destroyed the disabled MC-130s and four additional helicopters inside Iran rather than risk leaving sensitive equipment behind.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The successful extraction ended one of the most dangerous episodes of the five-week-old conflict, averting what could have been a catastrophic loss of American life and easing a deepening crisis for President Donald Trump as he considers whether to escalate a war that has already killed thousands.
Downed pilot hit, made contact
The rescued American weapons specialist was the second of two crew members of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that Iran said Friday had been downed by its air defenses. The US official said the plane was flying over Isfahan province when it was brought down and the two pilots ejected separately. The pilot was rescued while the other airman remained in Iran.
American aircrew are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques if they are shot down behind enemy lines, but few are fluent in Persian and face the challenge of remaining undetected while seeking rescue.
A US source familiar with some of the operational details said the US officer, who Trump said had the rank of colonel, sprained his ankle and hid in a crevice on a hilltop.
The official said the airman later established contact with the US military and authenticated himself – a critical step to ensure rescuers did not walk into a trap.
The CIA had previously run a deception campaign hoping to confuse Tehran by planting information inside Iran that US forces had already found the missing airman and moved him before the operation took place, a senior Trump administration official said.
But the US military took further steps, jamming electronics and bombing key roads around the site to prevent people from getting close, said the US source familiar with the planning.
The source told Reuters that the plane eventually sent to extract the airman and the rescue forces were much smaller turboprop planes capable of landing on small airfields and relatively light.
Throughout the operation, the White House, the Pentagon and the US military’s Central Command were uncharacteristically silent. Trump was so relatively quiet that a local reporter went to check if he was at Walter Reed Hospital.
Mission accomplished, Trump triumphed.
“Over the last several hours, the U.S. military conducted one of the most daring search and rescue operations in American history,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured but “he will be fine.”
American planes hit
Initial search efforts met fierce resistance from Iran when they began Friday after the F-15 pilot was initially rescued.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but fled Iranian airspace.
In a separate incident, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter jet after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, although the extent of crew injuries was unclear.
The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 injured, US Central Command says. No US troops have been captured by Iran.
While Trump has repeatedly tried to portray Iran’s military as in tatters, its ability to repeatedly hit U.S. aircraft is significant, military experts say.
Iran’s Joint Military Command Khatam al-Anbiya said on Saturday that the military used a new air defense system on Friday to target a US fighter jet.
Reuters first reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capabilities.
Until just over a week ago, the US could only state with certainty that it had destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
The status of about a third was less clear, but bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
Appearing unfazed by the successful rescue, Trump used tough language on Sunday to threaten Tehran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil flows vital to the world economy.
