The second crew member of a downed F-15E fighter jet has been rescued from an Iranian mountain by US commandos, ending a two-day search after the warplane crashed in south-west Iran. The crew member, a colonel and weapons systems officer, had been wounded but was successfully rescued, Donald Trump announced in a social media post.
Trump called it “one of most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history” and claimed that not a single American had been killed or wounded. He threatened Iran with bombing its power plants and bridges if Tehran did not open the Strait of Hormuz to merchant shipping. “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” he wrote.
Once located hiding in the mountains, having climbed a 7,000ft ridge, the colonel was rescued by a 200-strong special forces team under heavy covering fire. Three Revolutionary Guards were killed, according to Iranian sources. Iran’s military said it destroyed four US aircraft involved in the search, including two Hercules transport planes, two Black Hawk helicopters, and two drones.
The pilot of the aircraft had been rescued on Friday after the F-15E became the first US plane downed over Iran during the five-week war. The CIA took more than a day to locate the missing airman and launched a disinformation campaign to fool Iranian forces. Uncrewed Reaper drones were used to protect the crew member once located, striking Iranian military-aged males believed to be a threat within three kilometres.
Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump, saying: “As a nation that repeatedly carried out daring rescue operations, and as someone who was wounded in such a mission and lost a brother in the Entebbe rescue, Israelis and I, we know what a bold decision you took.”
