The second crew member of a US F-15E fighter jet downed over Iran has been rescued by American commandos, President Donald Trump announced. The weapons systems officer, a colonel, was wounded but successfully extracted from a mountain hideout in south-west Iran in what Trump called “one of most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history”. No US personnel were killed or wounded in the operation, he said.
The rescue ended a two-day search after the warplane crashed. The colonel had climbed a 7,000ft ridge and was located using “beeping information”, according to Trump. A 200-strong special forces team carried out the rescue under heavy covering fire. Three Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed, according to Iranian sources. The pilot of the aircraft had been rescued on Friday, having spent seven hours on the ground in Iran.
Iran claimed to have destroyed four US aircraft involved in the search operation, including two modified Hercules transport planes that became bogged down and had to be destroyed. State media shared images of charred wreckage. Iran also said two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed on the ground and two drones shot down. The US Air Force used low-flying Pave Hawk helicopters and C-130 Hercules planes in the search effort, with CIA disinformation operations to mislead Iranian forces.
Trump threatened to bomb Iranian power plants and bridges if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to merchant shipping. In a social media post, he wrote: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell.” He later told the Wall Street Journal that all the country’s power plants would be destroyed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump, citing Israel's own history of daring rescues.
