• Five killed in strikes during operation

• Tehran says US used abandoned airport in southern Isfahan for landing

• Iran military says destroyed three aircraft involved in search for airman

WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: US special forces have successfully rescued the second crew member of an F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran, US media outlets report.

The crew member, a weapons systems officer, was wounded after ejecting on Friday but was able to walk and evaded capture in the mountains for more than a day. Both crew members were rescued in coordinated operations inside Iran, highlighting a daring military response to one of the US military’s most dangerous scenarios in the region.

The F-15 pilot was rescued several hours after ejecting, while a US Blackhawk helicopter involved in that operation was struck by Iranian fire, wounding crew members but returning to base.

The second rescue operation, conducted on Saturday, involved a specialised commando unit with heavy air support, and all forces were extracted safely. Reports claim US Air Force jets also struck Iranian positions to prevent the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from intercepting the operation.

‘Most daring rescue operation’

President Donald Trump and senior administration officials monitored the rescue operations from the White House Situation Room, underscoring the high stakes of the incident.

President Trump announced the rescue in the early hours of Sunday in a social media post that described the operation, in a mountainous area of Iran, as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History”.

Trump said the US military had “pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History, for one of our incredible Crew Member Officers, who also happens to be a highly respected Colonel, and who I am thrilled to let you know is now SAFE and SOUND!”. Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos were tasked with extracting the airman, while US attack aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away, the New York Times reported, citing an unidentified official.

The airman was wounded after the ejection but could still walk, evading capture in the mountains for more than a day, according to news outlet Axios, which cited a US official. The unidentified airman was equipped with a pistol, a beacon and a secure communications device to coordinate with rescuers, the New York Times reported.

American commandos converging on the officer fired their weapons to keep Iranian forces away from the rescue site, the Times said. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that he had directed the US military to send “dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve” him. “He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,” Trump wrote.

Two of the planes meant to transport the airman and his rescuers to safety were stuck in a remote base in Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands, the New York Times and CBS reported. US forces then used three other transport planes to carry the airman and his rescuers out of Iran.

What does Iran say?

Although Iran’s military claims the US operation was “completely foiled”, it has not given a full account of events. Military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari told state media that US forces had used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province, which lies to the northwest of the area where the airman ejected.

He said the aircraft had been taking part in “a deception and escape mission… under the pretext of recovering the pilot of a downed aircraft”. Iranian state media broadcast images of the charred wreckage of what appears to be a plane in a desert area, while officials claimed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters had been destroyed.

In the footage, two charred propellers and engines can be clearly seen, with specialised open-source geolocating experts claiming the images were taken about 50 kilometres south of the city of Isfahan.

The Wall Street Journal and other US media, citing unnamed officials, reported that American forces had blown up two C-130s after they became stuck, with other aircraft flown in to lift rescue teams to safety.

The governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province told Mehr news agency that five people had been killed and seven wounded in the Kuh-e Siah mountain area. But the governor, Iraj Kazemijou, denied reports that US forces had landed there, saying they were “completely false and have no validity”.

A US official said the operation, which Israel said it had assisted, involved dozens of military aircraft and encountered fierce resistance from Iranian forces.

Iran’s military said several US aircraft were destroyed during the operation, including two military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters. Footage posted on social media showed burned-out aircraft wreckage, which Reuters verified was in the area.

Deception campaign

The loss of the F-15 last week as well as an A-10 ground-attack aircraft which came down in a separate incident, underlined the risks still facing US and Israeli aircrew despite Trump’s assertions that Iran’s air defences have been largely destroyed.

An official said US forces had to destroy at least one of the aircraft used in the rescue mission because it had malfunctioned but many details of what occurred in the operation remained unclear.

The Wall Street Journal reported that two specially equipped MC-130Js aircraft used to carry out covert infiltrations and to remove troops from beyond enemy lines were blown up by US forces after malfunctioning.

A senior administration official in Washington said the rescue had involved a CIA deception campaign spreading word inside Iran that US forces had already found the missing airman and were moving him on the ground for exfiltration out of the country.

While the Iranians were confused and uncertain of what was happening, the missing weapons officer was located inside a mountain crevice and rescued, the official said in a statement.

Five killed on ground

Strikes killed five people overnight in Iran’s southwest during the rescue of a missing US crewmember of a downed American fighter jet, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

“Five people were martyred in last night’s attack on the Kouh-e Siah area” in southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, the Tasnim news agency cited provincial official Iraj Kazemijou as saying. He said the killings took place while the US was trying to find “the pilot or pilots” of the downed fighter jet.

‘Aircraft destroyed’

Iran’s military said on Sunday that it destroyed three US aircraft involved in a search operation for a crew member of a downed American fighter jet. “The enemy’s intruding aircraft in southern Isfahan — including two Black Hawk helicopters and one C-130 military transport aircraft — were struck and are now burning,” the military’s central command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said. Since Friday, Iranian media have also shared footage showing local residents, some carrying flags and rifles, searching for the pilot after authorities announced bounties for information.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2026