Iran says several ‘enemy aircraft’ destroyed during US pilot rescue mission

Several aircraft were destroyed in the south of Iran’s Isfahan province during a U.S. mission to rescue a stranded airman, Iranian military officials said on Sunday.

U.S. officials told Reuters late on Saturday that a second airman whose F-15 jet was downed on Friday in Iran was rescued, a day after the first crew member was recovered.

“Additional investigations by experts on the ground revealed that two C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters of the US army were destroyed by our forces,” a spokesperson for the unified command of Iranian armed forces said.

Iranian forces on Saturday were hunting for a missing U.S. pilot whose warplane went down the day before. Separate statements by the Iranian army and Revolutionary Guards said an Israeli Hermes-900 drone as well as a U.S. MQ-9 drone were downed in Isfahan province. Reuters could not immediately verify the Iranian accounts.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that U.S. search operations were conducted from Saturday evening in three provinces: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and Isfahan.

Israel provided intelligence assistance to the United States during the operation to rescue the stranded airman and halted its attacks in the area to facilitate the mission, an Israeli security official said.

The U.S. and Israeli coordination came amid heightened tensions with Iran, which has been closely monitoring foreign military operations near its territory.

Credit: Reuters