U.S. special forces have recovered the second pilot who was missing in Iran. The announcement was made today by U.S. President Donald Trump, who wrote on the social platform Truth that the airman, whose jet was shot down last Friday, was rescued by U.S. military forces in an operation the president described as one of the most “audacious in American history.”
‘We got him!,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social, explaining: ‘In recent hours, the United States Armed Forces completed one of the most audacious search-and-rescue operations in American history for one of our incredible crew officers, who is also a highly respected colonel, and I am thrilled to tell you he is now safe and sound!’ The president added that the servicemember ‘sustained injuries, but will make a full recovery.’
Search efforts for the pilot began Friday after an F-15E Strike Eagle was downed in the region. Another crew member was rescued shortly after the incident and is receiving medical treatment, as previously reported by CNN.
Trump said U.S. forces had ‘sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons,’ to recover the crew member.
‘He was injured, but he will recover. This miraculous search-and-rescue follows the rescue of another brave pilot yesterday, which we did not confirm earlier because we did not want to compromise our second rescue operation,’ Trump added.
‘This is the first time in military history that two U.S. pilots have been rescued, separately, deep inside enemy territory. WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN FIGHTER BEHIND!’ the president said, stressing that the double rescue demonstrates ‘air dominance and superiority over Iranian skies.’
‘This is a moment that ALL Americans-Republicans, Democrats, and everyone else-should be proud of and rally around. We truly have the best, most professional, and most lethal armed forces in the history of the world. GOD BLESS AMERICA, GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS, AND HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!’ Trump concluded.
Tehran denies operation and responds: “Failure”
Despite the president’s triumphant announcement, Iranian state media and authorities deny that the U.S. operation succeeded. The Tasnim news agency reported that ‘several enemy American aircraft in the southern Isfahan region were destroyed by the warriors of Islam and the pilot rescue operation failed,’ citing the Iranian military headquarters. ‘The enemy aircraft that entered the southern Isfahan area, including two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 military transport plane, were hit and are now burning,’ the Iranian agency wrote.
Several Iranian news outlets published video footage purportedly showing smoldering wreckage in a desert area. CNN, reporting the claim, said it could not independently verify the footage’s authenticity.
‘Trump, in an attempt to conceal his heavy defeat, tweeted claiming to have carried out a special operation to rescue the pilot of the plane that crashed in Iran,’ Tasnim said. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, shared one of the images and commented: ‘If the United States scores three more victories like this, it will be completely ruined.’