CIA Deception Tactic Helped Rescue Downed F-15 Crew in High-Stakes Iran Operation
Washington: In a high-stakes operation over the last weekend, the United States executed a complex rescue to recover two aviators whose F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down in Iran. The mission unfolded in two parts, with one crew member extracted first and the second located later after taking cover in rugged mountain terrain as Iranian forces intensified their search.
The F-15E Strike Eagle, initially reported as an F-35 by Iranian media, came down last Friday. US President Donald Trump and senior officials maintained silence for more than 24 hours following the incident while closely monitoring developments. Trump later characterized the first rescue as a seven-hour daylight mission and emphasized that the operation demanded complete radio silence to protect its success.
To throw Iranian authorities off the trail of the missing weapons systems officer, the CIA launched a deception effort. The agency circulated false reports inside Iran claiming that the United States had already located the airman and was moving him overland for extraction, according to the Associated Press, which cited a senior Trump administration official speaking on condition of anonymity. This misinformation helped US intelligence pinpoint the crew member’s actual position in a mountain crevice, despite his injuries. He had climbed approximately 7,000 feet (2,133 meters), Sen. Dave McCormick told Fox News Sunday after receiving a briefing on the mission.
Once coordinates were confirmed, they were passed to the Pentagon and the White House, where Trump authorized the second rescue. At the same time, an anchor on a channel linked to Iranian state television urged residents in the southwestern mountainous region to report any sighting of the “enemy pilot” and offered a reward, the Associated Press reported.
Trump stated that the airman was being hunted, with adversaries closing in hour by hour, and described him as seriously wounded but expected to recover. The operation involved dozens of heavily armed aircraft. Challenges arose when two Black Hawk helicopters came under fire, though they reached safe airspace. Technical problems forced the abandonment and destruction of two transport planes.
Iranian state media broadcast footage purporting to show debris from downed US aircraft, including claims of strikes on transport planes and helicopters in Isfahan province. Separately, a second US military jet, an A-10 attack aircraft, according to Iranian reports was also shot down that Friday, with its pilot safely rescued, a US official confirmed anonymously.
Trump highlighted the success on Truth Social, noting it as the first time in military memory that two US pilots had been rescued separately deep in enemy territory. “WE WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AMERICAN WARFIGHTER BEHIND!” he wrote. He added that the operations demonstrated overwhelming US air dominance over Iranian skies, with no American casualties.
Iranian joint military command reported airstrikes in the region that killed at least three people. The entire sequence underscored the risks and precision involved in recovering personnel behind enemy lines during heightened tensions.