President Trump Details Military Operation to Rescue Downed Airman in Iran
President Donald Trump described an extensive U.S. military operation to rescue a downed airman in Iran, involving a large-scale deployment of aircraft and strategic deception tactics.
According to Trump, the mission ultimately included 155 aircraft, among them four bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft. He said much of the effort was designed to mislead Iranian forces, who were also searching for the missing crew member.
Trump threatens to jail journalist who first reported on downed airman
Trump also threatened to jail the journalist who first reported that U.S. forces were searching for an F-15 weapons officer shot down in Iran if they don’t reveal their sources.
“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long,” Trump said.
Airman rescued in Iran
In a social media post Sunday, Trump said the rescue of the “highly respected colonel” took place “deep inside the mountains of Iran.”
“The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to man and equipment. It just doesn’t happen! We rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran. An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!”
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According to Fox News, the CIA deflected enemy attention with a “deception campaign.”
The CIA reportedly spread word in Iran through multiple sources that U.S. forces had already found the second of two airmen who ejected from their F-15, and were moving him out of Iran in a maritime exfiltration elsewhere, sources told Fox News. That was designed to buy time to find the stranded weapons system officer.
2 US planes downed in one day
The search for the crew member began after an F-15E fighter jet was shot down inside Iran on Friday. A second crew member was rescued shortly after the crash.
A second aircraft, an A-10 Warthog, was also reportedly hit by enemy fire Friday, but its pilot navigated the plane back to safe airspace before ejecting and being rescued, according to multiple reports.
Both planes were hit two days after Trump boasted that the U.S. and Israel had destroyed Iran’s air defenses.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated,” Trump said Wednesday during a primetime address.
Four U.S. military planes had gone down during the Iran war before the F-15 and A-10 on Friday, but the F-15E was the first U.S. aircraft lost in Iranian territory.
In those previous incidents, three fighter jets were hit by friendly fire over Kuwait and a refueling tanker plane crashed in Iraq, killing six U.S. service members.
The Source: This article includes information from President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, Fox News, The Associated Press and previous FOX Local reporting.
