WASHINGTON — U.S. military and intelligence forces carried out a complex and high-risk rescue operation inside Iran after an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down over a remote, mountainous region during the ongoing conflict.
The aircraft went down on April 3, forcing both crew members — a pilot and a weapons systems officer — to eject behind enemy lines. The pilot was retrieved on Friday in an early phase of the response, but the second airman remained missing and wounded in difficult terrain as Iranian forces and local searchers closed in.
U.S. authorities embarked on an urgent search-and-rescue mission, combining airborne surveillance, battlefield intelligence and special operations capability to locate the missing airman before Iranian forces could capture him. Central Intelligence Agency assets were used to track his position, including signals from survival-beacon equipment carried by the airman.
Officials also employed deception tactics to mislead Iranian troops about the rescuers’ true movements and slow their response. This included spreading misinformation within Iran that the airman had already been found and was being moved out, in order to divert attention from the actual rescue site.
The extraction was carried out in extremely hostile conditions, with dozens of U.S. aircraft supporting the mission and providing air cover as special operations units moved in. The military reported engagements with Iranian forces, and some U.S. aircraft sustained damage from enemy fire.
Two U.S. transport planes involved in the operation became immobilized at a forward landing base inside Iran and were deliberately destroyed by U.S. forces to prevent their capture. Additional aircraft were brought in to complete the extraction and safely evacuate personnel.
After more than 48 hours behind enemy lines, the drugs-down airman, who was reportedly injured, was located, engaged by rescue teams and flown out of Iran along with all participating U.S. personnel. President Donald Trump described the mission as one of the most daring in recent U.S. military history and confirmed that the airman was alive and receiving treatment.
The operation averted a potential political and military crisis by recovering a U.S. service member before Iranian forces or allied groups could detain him, underscoring the challenges of conducting combat search-and-rescue missions deep inside hostile territory.
