He was wounded and hidden with a gun to elude the Iranians

This Friday, Iran shot down a US F-15 fighter in its territory for the first time since the war in the Middle East began on February 28.

One of the two crew members was rescued, but the other remained missing until this Sunday.

During the time his whereabouts were unknown, a frantic search was unleashed by both countries that ceased this morning with Donald Trump’s social media publication.

The president has explained in his Social Truth that US forces managed to locate and rescue the second American pilot alive.

“WE DID IT! My fellow Americans, in the last few hours, the United States Armed Forces carried out one of the most daring search and rescue operations in the history of the country, to rescue one of our incredible crew officers,” Trump said in his post.

For its part, Iran denies the United States and has assured this Sunday that it has thwarted the rescue attempt of the second pilot and that several aircraft were hit, “including two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 military transport plane.”

Although, and according to the American version, the rescue mission has been completed successfully, it has not been without danger since a risky intervention was carried out on Saturday night “behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran.”

After a race against time in which Iran offered 100 billion rials (US$76,000), as well as a “special recognition” as a juicy reward for whoever would deliver the “criminal American pilot” alive and Trump launched a major search, the pilot was rescued by Navy SEAL Team 6.

In the military operation, in which hundreds of special operations troops and other members of the Army participated, “not a single American was killed or injured,” Trump said.

However, the rescued pilot—an Air Force colonel—did not suffer the same fate and “suffered injuries” and was flown to Kuwait for medical attention.

behind the mountains

After Iran shot down the F-15E Strike Eagle in its territory and rescued one of the pilots, the second remained hidden behind enemy lines with little more than a pistol to defend himself.

After ejecting from the plane, the officer took refuge in a crevice in the mountain, and for a time his location was unknown to both the American forces trying to rescue him and the Iranian forces trying to capture him.

The CIA launched a deception operation to mislead Iranian forces, making them believe that the airman had already been evacuated and was leaving the country in a ground convoy, according to a senior official.

The agency subsequently managed to locate his hideout and transmitted the information to the Pentagon, which organized the rescue mission.

The rescue operation mobilized hundreds of special forces troops and other military personnel, as well as dozens of US fighter jets and helicopters, as well as cyber, space and other intelligence capabilities.

The aviator managed to evade the Iranian forces for more than 24 hours and even climbed a 2,134-meter ridge, according to the version given by a high military command to the New York Times.

American attack planes bombed and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away from the hiding area and when the commandos approached, they fired shots to contain the Iranian forces, although there was no direct confrontation, the same source added.

The soldier had a beacon and a secure communications system to coordinate his rescue, although he limited its use to prevent Iranian forces from detecting his signal.

A senior US military official described the operation to New York Times as one of the most complex and demanding in the history of the country’s special forces, due to the mountainous terrain, the airman’s injuries and the speed with which Iranian forces were deployed to the area.

In an unexpected twist after the rescue, two transport planes meant to evacuate commandos and airmen were disabled at a remote base in Iran.

The commanders opted to send three additional aircraft to extract all personnel and decided to destroy the two damaged aircraft to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands.

The F-15E was shot down in an Iranian region where there is notable opposition to the regime, which could have made it easier for the airman to receive help from the local population to find refuge.

Iran denies the US

Iran stated this Sunday that it thwarted a United States attempt to rescue the pilot of a downed fighter, in an operation in which, according to Tehran, several aircraft were hit, after US President Donald Trump said that the soldier had been rescued alive.

“The enemy’s invading aircraft in southern Isfahan, including two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 military transport plane, were hit (…) and the attempt to rescue the pilot failed,” said Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters spokesman Colonel Ebrahim Zolfagari, according to the agency. Tasnim.

He indicated that the operation was repelled through a joint action of the Revolutionary Guard, the Army, the Basij militia and the security forces, who managed to prevent the rescue after the entry of enemy aircraft into the center of the country.

For its part, the Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that the aircraft were destroyed during the operation and described the episode as a “new humiliating defeat” for the United States.

The Guard accused Trump of trying to cover up the failure of the operation after stating on social media that a special mission had been carried out to rescue the pilot.