The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Sunday it shot down a US aircraft involved in a rescue operation for a missing F-15 crew member. Iran’s Fars news agency, cited by Al Jazeera, published a photograph showing smoke rising from a field.
The claim followed a post by former US President Donald Trump confirming the US military had rescued the second F-15 crew member who went missing after Iran downed the jet amid the wider West Asia conflict. In his Truth Social post, Trump described the mission as one of the most daring search-and-rescue operations in US history and wrote, ‘We got him!’
Trump identified the rescued person as a respected colonel, said the officer was injured but expected to recover, and emphasized that the US would not leave a warfighter behind. He added that, at his direction, the military sent dozens of aircraft armed with what he called the most lethal weapons in the world for the second rescue mission after local Iranian groups targeted two Black Hawk helicopters.
According to Trump, both pilots were rescued separately from deep in enemy territory, and he used the operations to assert US air dominance, saying no US personnel were killed or wounded.
Both US and Iranian forces conducted searches for the missing crew member. CNN reported that, during those searches, Iranian tribesmen opened fire on American helicopters.
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