U.S. President Donald Trump announced early Sunday that a U.S. soldier who went missing after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down in Iran had been rescued in what observers called a dramatic firefight between Iranian and U.S. relief forces.
The U.S. and Iran have been searching for the airman for about two days as the U.S. war with Iran entered its 37th day, but the Iranian government called on the Iranian people to hand over the soldier, believed to have been trying to capture American prisoners, to authorities.
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That scenario would have been a major victory for Iran and a stunning blow to Washington, analysts say, even as the territorial damage continues. They say this may have been a moment when some of President Trump’s supporters, who had previously supported the war, began to reconsider their position.
“This was a big test for the US military, because they don’t want to leave any soldiers behind enemy lines,” Amin Saikal, a professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian studies at the Australian National University, told Al Jazeera.
But the rescue also “actually frees President Trump to pursue whatever strategy he has in mind,” Saikal added, referring to Trump’s 48-hour deadline to strike a deal with Iran or open the Strait of Hormuz “before hell gets their hands on them.” President Trump has already threatened to bomb Iranian energy facilities. Targeting civilian infrastructure is considered a violation of the laws of war.
At least 2,076 people have been killed and 26,500 injured in Iran since February 28, when the United States and Israel first launched attacks on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and several other military and political leaders.
The conflict has since escalated into a regional war, with Iran retaliating against Gulf states that host U.S. military and commercial assets.
What happened to the missing aviators?
The F-15E fighter jet carrying two soldiers was flying over southern Iran when it was shot down on Friday morning local time.
The Iranian government said the plane was shot down by Iran’s “new advanced air defense system” and that the system remained effective despite the US claiming it was destroyed.
It was the first time a US military plane had been shot down during the war, and the first since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Washington immediately began a rescue operation. The U.S. military rescued one crew member hours after the crash, but the second pilot, believed to be a colonel-level weapons systems officer, has not yet been located.
At least one Black Hawk helicopter was hit during the initial rescue, but U.S. officials said the helicopter managed to stay airborne.
President Trump suggested the U.S. knew the astronaut’s location and was likely tracking him as rescue efforts unfolded in a difficult mountainous region where recovery would be difficult.
At the same time as the F-15E, an A-10 Warthog crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, but the pilot was able to eject before crashing and was later rescued. Iranian media reported that the aircraft was also attacked by Iranian defense systems.
How did Iran react?
Following the downing of the F-15E, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) cordoned off parts of the mountainous southwestern provinces of Kogilye and Boyer Ahmad, believing the pilot had crashed nearby.
Iranian media also reported that parts of the southern Khuzestan region, an important energy hub, were under scrutiny. The area was the focus of heavy airstrikes by the United States and Israel on Saturday, killing at least five people and wounding dozens.
In an unprecedented move, Iranian authorities on Friday appealed to the public for help in searching for and capturing missing American soldiers. State media reported that the Iranian government had offered the pilot a $60,000 bounty, as state television repeatedly showed footage showing the wreckage of the downed American plane.
Nomadic tribes in the area appear to have heeded the call and began searching for the U.S. airmen. State media footage showed men carrying rifles and Iranian flags moving through the mountains in the country’s southwest.
Iranian officials said some were able to fire on two U.S. Black Hawk ships that were part of the rescue mission. The BBC also saw footage that appeared to show an Iranian man firing a rifle at a US helicopter.
Nomadic groups in countries such as Iran typically carry rifles to protect their livestock from wild animals and bandits.
The Revolutionary Guards claimed on Sunday that Iranian forces destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during an operation to rescue a US pilot south of Isfahan.
What did the US do to retrieve the soldiers?
Early Sunday morning, President Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that the missing soldier had been rescued in “one of the most daring search and rescue operations in American history.”
“While this brave warrior was behind enemy lines in Iran’s treacherous mountains, cornered by an enemy that was closing in on him by the minute, he was never truly alone as the Commander in Chief, the Secretary of the Army, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his fellow combatants monitored his position around the clock and diligently planned his rescue,” Trump said in a message.
The president revealed details of this high-risk operation. He had ordered dozens of planes loaded with “lethal weapons” to be sent to rescue the pilots who had fled Iranian attacks for two days. All the while, the United States was tracking the aviators.
President Trump did not provide details of the gunfight that reportedly occurred as the US approached and rescued the airman, but acknowledged that the officer “suffered injuries” and added, “He’s going to be OK.”
Al Jazeera’s John Hendren summed up what was supposed to be an “in and out” rescue operation that dragged on and resulted in a “heavy gunfight.”
After approaching the airmen, U.S. forces had aimed to carry out a rescue mission under the cover of night, but enemy artillery fire extended the mission into daylight, making it more dangerous.
“I heard there was a heavy gunfight,” Hendren reported. “Eventually, they were able to get the airman out of the country and to a safe location. Although there were some casualties, including the airman himself being injured, in the end the United States was able to avoid having prisoners in Iran.”
Hendren said the U.S. had launched a disinformation campaign in Iran to jeopardize the Iranian search, the officials said, adding that he claimed the airman had already been rescued.
Iran has not yet confirmed the incident. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Assadi said the gunfight appeared to have taken place in the Kogil-e-Boyer Ahmad area, where nine people were reported killed in a “strike”, but it was unclear whether it was linked to the U.S. rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Iranian authorities announced Sunday morning that yet another US aircraft, a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, had been shot down.
The United States has not responded to these claims. During rescue operations over the past 48 hours, at least one such aircraft was spotted flying low over southwestern Iran, along with two small refueling helicopters.
