An American plane searching for the downed pilot “was destroyed”, the Iranian press announced
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had shot down a US plane involved in the rescue operation of an American pilot, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, AFP and Reuters reported.
“A US enemy plane searching for the pilot of a downed fighter jet was destroyed by Islamic fighters in the southern region of the city of Isfahan,” Tasnim wrote, without confirming Donald Trump's announcement that the military had been rescued, writes France Presse.
US special forces rescued the pilot who crashed in Iran on Friday, who was also wanted by the regime in Tehran, from behind enemy lines on Sunday.
The announcement was made by Donald Trump and the White House, thus solving a major crisis for the American leader, in the context of the war with Iran, which is in its sixth week, notes Reuters.
“Over the past few hours, the United States military conducted one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history,” Trump said in a statement released by White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on X.
Trump said the crew member was injured but “will be fine.” The leader of the White House specified in the message issued after the end of the operation that “no American” was killed or injured during the operation.
The pilot was the second member of a two-man crew of an F-15E jet that Iran said Friday was downed by its air defenses.
The first crew member was recovered on Friday, after which a large-scale search operation was launched by both Iran and the United States for the second officer.
On Friday, the F-15E Strike Eagle became the first US aircraft to be shot down over Iran during the five-week war, The Guardian notes.
The U.S. military hasn't had a plane shot down by enemy fire in more than 20 years, since a fighter jet was shot down during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Air Force Reserve Brigadier General Houston Cantwell told The Associated Press.
