How CIA and U.S. forces rescued an F-15 pilot inside Iran

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US special forces carried out a daring rescue mission to bring back an airman stranded 200 miles behind enemy lines after Iran shot down a $31m fighter jet on Friday. Donald Trump said on Sunday that dozens of military aircraft had raced to rescue the missing weapons-system officer of a two-seat F-15E after the pilot ejected and was rescued under fire. The president said the injured second airman was stuck “in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour”. In an extraordinary feat, US commandos sent to his rescue slipped into Iran under the cover of darkness, scaled a 2,100 metre ridge and took the specialist back to safety, moving him toward a secret rendezvous point before dawn on Sunday. The rescue mission encountered fierce resistance from Iran, with the Iranian military claiming to have taken down several American warplanes while the CIA focused on distracting them with a targeted deception campaign. Trump said no casualties were reported from the mission, which he described as the first time in US military history that two pilots had been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory. The announcement came just hours before the president doubled down on his threats to strike Iranian infrastructure as soon as Tuesday in an expletive-laden rant on social media, before negotiators hashed out a new proposal for an immediate ceasefire. On Monday, Trump and his top defence aides further detailed the risky mission during a news conference at the White House, with the president outlining how the US relied on dozens of aircraft, hundreds of personnel, secret CIA technology and a dose of subterfuge. He also again repeated his warnings to Iran, threatening to send the country “back to the stone ages” with a barrage of attacks on civilian targets if his final deadline to make a deal on opening the Strait of Hormuz is not met. Here’s what we know about the rescue missions so far: How did it happen? The F-15E Strike Eagle – an all-weather jet designed for air-to-ground and air-to-air missions – was shot down by Iranian defences on Friday morning, according to Iran. Two crew members were on board the jet, callsign ‘Dude 44’, when it was downed: a pilot and a weapons-system officer in the back, responsible for selecting targets and making sure the weapons are properly calibrated to targets. Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said it used a new air-defence system on Friday, which targeted a US fighter jet, three drones and two cruise missiles. “The enemy should know that we rely on new air-defence systems built by the young, knowledgeable, and proud people of this country, unveiling them one after another in the field,” a spokesperson said. What did the rescue mission involve? Dozens of American warplanes were sent towards Iran to carry out the daring rescues of both the pilot and the weapons-system officer. The pilot safely ejected and was rescued by two military helicopters on Friday. One helicopter was hit by small arms fire, wounding crew on board, but escaped, according to CBS, citing US officials. “We didn’t play up the first one, because then they would have found out about the second one,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal after the second rescue on Sunday. “So by not talking about the first one, it took them a day and a half to find out there was a second one.” The lost airman was trapped some 200 miles inside Iran with only a handgun to defend himself, according to US officials. US air crews are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques if downed behind enemy lines, but few are fluent in Persian and face a challenge in staying undetected while seeking rescue. Trump told the WSJ that the colonel, despite having sustained injuries, was able to climb up into a crevice to await extraction as Iran began their own hunt. One US official told Reuters he had sprained his ankle - a lucky escape from bailing on a moving jet. The airman radioed in “God is good” upon reaching the ridge, a message that was reportedly met with suspicion in Washington, fearing an Iranian trap. Reuters’ source said the airman later established contact with the US military and authenticated himself - a critical step to ensure rescue forces were not walking into a trap. #IranWar #IranNews #TrumpIran #USIran #WarInIran #IranUpdate #IranConflict #IranToday #StraitOfHormuz #IranAttack #CIA Full article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-us-airman-rescued-f15-trump-b2952756.html Watch more on Independent TV: https://tinyurl.com/yc7ukx9n The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking newsbrand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. Subscribe: https://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-Independent