More Details of the U.S. Military Rescue Operation Exposed, Nearly Suffered "Catastrophic" Losses

An F-15E "Strike Eagle" dual-seat fighter jet of the U.S. Air Force was shot down over Isfahan Province, Iran, on the 3rd, with two personnel ejecting and escaping. One was quickly rescued, while the other was rescued two days later. Reuters reported on the 5th, citing informed U.S. officials, that a "critical situation" arose during the rescue operation for the latter, nearly resulting in "catastrophic" personnel losses.

Photos of the wreckage of U.S. military aircraft involved in the rescue operation released by Iranian media.

Transport aircraft "failed" during retreat

According to Reuters, about 100 U.S. special forces entered Iran on the 4th under the cover of night to carry out the rescue mission. They climbed a ridge and found their stranded comrade, who is believed to be the weapons systems operator in the rear of the downed F-15E fighter jet, holding the rank of Colonel. The rescue team managed to evacuate the injured personnel to a pickup point before dawn on the 5th. However, two MC-130 transport aircraft responsible for part of the personnel transport mission "malfunctioned," experiencing mechanical failures that prevented takeoff, putting U.S. personnel in danger.

Informed U.S. officials said that at this "life-threatening" moment, the commander decided to temporarily dispatch additional aircraft into Iran. These relatively small turboprop planes ultimately transported the stranded personnel back in batches. Before withdrawing from Iran, U.S. forces destroyed four helicopters and two malfunctioning MC-130 aircraft to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

According to sources, the rescued F-15E weapons operator had an ankle sprain and was hiding in a rock crevice on a mountaintop. This operator managed to contact U.S. forces and verify his identity to avoid being mistaken for an Iranian "trap." To facilitate the rescue, U.S. forces spread "false information" through the CIA that the weapons operator was being rescued, while simultaneously jamming Iranian electronic devices and bombing key roads around the rescue site to cut off Iranian access.

According to Reuters, this rescue operation was one of the most dangerous actions taken by U.S. forces against Iran in the five weeks since military operations began. Throughout the operation, the White House, the Department of Defense, U.S. Central Command, and President Trump remained unusually "quiet." Some reporters even attempted to investigate whether Trump was ill or hospitalized.

Trump rarely "breaks defense"

After the F-15E fighter jet was shot down on the 3rd, the U.S. quickly launched a search and rescue operation but encountered Iranian fire. On that day, two U.S. "Black Hawk" helicopters were hit but managed to escape. The Iranian air defense system also struck a U.S. A-10 "Warthog" attack aircraft in the airspace near the Strait of Hormuz.

According to U.S. media reports, the A-10 was hit while providing support for the aforementioned rescue operation, with the pilot flying the damaged aircraft to Kuwaiti airspace, ejecting to escape, and being rescued, while the aircraft crashed.

Two U.S. aircraft crashed on the same day, coinciding with Trump considering further escalation of military actions against Iran. CNN reported on the 3rd that Trump had previously claimed that "Iran has lost its air defense capability," while the two crash incidents contradicted this assertion.

On the 5th, Trump again demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz and threatened that if it did not, Iran would "live in hell." He posted on social media, "April 7 will be Iran's power plant day and bridge day," implying a severe bombing of Iran's power plants and bridges. Trump even used profanity in his post: "Open that damn strait, or you will live in hell—just wait and see!"

Reporter: Chen Lixi