Two U.S. transport planes that broke down at a remote base inside Iran were blown up by American forces rather than left behind. The New York Times reported the destruction on Sunday.
The aircraft had been meant to carry commandos and a rescued officer out of the country. The officer was the weapons systems officer, a colonel, from an F-15E that went down over Iran. U.S. special forces reached him early Sunday morning, local time, after he spent more than 36 hours hiding in the mountains of southwestern Iran. He had a pistol for defense. He was flown to Kuwait for treatment of injuries from the ejection.
The Times called the breakdown of the two planes “a final twist.” The aircraft carried sensitive equipment, and commanders did not want it falling into Iranian hands. They ordered the planes destroyed and flew in three replacement aircraft to take out all U.S. military personnel.
The rescue itself
CBS News confirmed that U.S. commandos fought Iranian troops as they closed in on the stranded officer. U.S. attack aircraft bombed and fired on Iranian convoys heading toward the area. Two officials told CBS the officer carried a beacon and an encrypted communication device to coordinate with rescuers, but “only a handgun for self-defense while hiding in the terrain.”
The Wall Street Journal told it differently. It reported that the U.S. sent “overwhelming firepower” and that there was “no major firefight with Iranian forces on the ground.” No U.S. casualties were reported among the rescue team, officials said. Local eyewitness videos appeared to show injured and dead members of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij who had been searching for the American.
The mission drew in hundreds of special operations troops, dozens of warplanes and helicopters, and cyber, space and intelligence assets. A senior U.S. military official called it “one of the most challenging and complex in the history of U.S. special operations.” The CIA ran a deception campaign inside Iran and, an official said, used “unique capabilities” to find the officer in a “mountain crevice.”
Iran’s claim
Iran made a separate claim. The Revolutionary Guards and the police each said they had shot down a U.S. C-130 near Isfahan. Tasnim, the semi-official news agency, quoted the Guards as saying an aircraft searching for the pilot was destroyed in southern Isfahan. The police command, known as FARAJA, said its commandos destroyed a C-130 “with a volume of fire.” Local sources cited by Tasnim described that aircraft as a refueling plane.
Neither the Pentagon nor CENTCOM had confirmed or denied the claim when the reports were filed. Iran has made repeated claims during the war about downing U.S. aircraft, and some have not been verified.
The Times said the F-15E was shot down in a part of Iran with “significant opposition to the Iranian government,” so the officer may have been able to count on civilians for shelter. Elsewhere, the government urged residents to hunt for him and offered a $60,000 reward for his live capture. Armed tribesmen and villagers searched the mountains with their own weapons.
