He directed stealth attacks after the F-15 was shot down. Details of the secret rescue mission

The American army officer shot down over Iran was hiding in the mountains and helped direct US and Israeli airstrikes against the advancing troops of the Islamic Republic, using emergency communications equipment, the Times of Israel reported.

The American New York Times stressed that it was unclear how close the officer's hideout was to the Iranian forces. There was no fighting between US and Iranian troops.

An F-15 fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday. Both US officers managed to eject. The pilot of the machine was rescued within a few hourswhile the weapons systems officer showed no signs of life for about 14 hours. According to the British “The Times”, determining the location of the downed soldier required the use of “special technology” from the CIA. No further details about this system were provided.

The Times reported that when the officer finally sent the signal on Friday evening, US Central Command (CENTCOM) was preparing a statement announcing that the plane had been shot down and the pilot had been rescued. The announcement was immediately canceled and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told President Donald Trump that the weapons officer still needed to be rescued, so any information about the successful evacuation of the pilot still had to remain classified.

Throughout the operation, the White House, the Pentagon and CENTCOM maintained unprecedented silence, the media noted.

CIA, Israeli aid and abandoned planes

The CIA spread false information in Iran that the officer had been found and was being evacuated in a land convoy. The agency hoped that the Iranians would move the search from the place where the soldier was probably located to the roads leading out of the area of ​​operation.

Meanwhile, Islamic Republic authorities have intensified their search mission, calling on the public to capture the “enemy pilots.”

According to The Times, the officer, after finding was scheduled to fly out of Iran with his rescuers on two C-130 planes. However, the front landing gear of at least one of these machines, and probably both, became stuck in the sand. American forces tried for hours to free the stuck wheels. Ultimately, much smaller and lighter turboprop aircraft, capable of landing at small airports, were dispatched to evacuate the officer and rescue forces.

The US had to bomb its own planes

The special operations planes and helicopters left after the evacuation – MH-6 – were bombed to prevent them from being taken over by the Iranians.

Thus, the United States lost planes on Iranian territory for the first time since February 28, the beginning of the war. The conflict began with a wave of American and Israeli airstrikes, which resulted in the death of, among others, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee announced on Monday on the X website that he would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to thank him – on behalf of the American people – “for the unprecedented assistance to the American military and intelligence agencies that carried out the historic aircrew rescue mission in Iran.” He added that both the Israeli army and the Mossad intelligence agency were “helpful partners” during the mission. (PAP)

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