Iran’s military has confirmed that American special operations forces used an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan province as a covert forward operating base during a dramatic rescue mission to recover two downed U.S. airmen from deep inside Iranian territory, a high-stakes operation that both sides are now claiming to have won.
Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari, speaking for the military’s central command Khatam Al-Anbiya, declared that the U.S. rescue operation was “completely foiled.”Reports indicate the U.S. used an abandoned agricultural airstrip, measuring 200 by 3,900 feet, located 14 miles north of Shahreza City in southern Isfahan, as a temporary forward operating base.
The incident began on Friday, April 3, when an F-15E Strike Eagle of the 494th Fighter Squadron was shot down by Iranian forces over Iranian territory, with the two crew members ejecting separately. The U.S. official confirmed the plane was flying over Isfahan province when it was brought down. The pilot was rescued relatively quickly, but the weapons systems officer, a highly respected Colonel according to President Trump, remained behind enemy lines, sparking a frantic multinational race across rugged terrain.
A Race Through the Mountains
Iranian authorities immediately urged local people and tribesmen to join security forces in searching for the airman, recognizing the potential political and military value of capturing him alive. The airman, trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques, sprained his ankle and hid in a crevice on a hilltop, later establishing contact with the U.S. military and authenticating himself, a critical step to ensure rescue forces were not walking into a trap.
While tracking the airman to a mountain crevice, the CIA launched a disinformation campaign in Iran claiming that the airman had already been rescued. Meanwhile, Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos were tasked with extracting the airman, while U.S. attack aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away.
Aircraft Lost, Then Destroyed
The operation nearly unraveled when two MC-130 aircraft that had ferried roughly 100 special operations forces into the rugged terrain suffered a mechanical failure. The U.S. later announced that the two stuck MC-130 special operations transport planes were deliberately destroyed at the abandoned airport after replacement aircraft arrived. The Wall Street Journal reported that each C-130 costs more than $100 million.
Iran claimed the aircraft were shot down as trophies of a successful defense. Iranian state media broadcast images of charred wreckage scattered across a desert area, with smoke still rising from the site.
Conflicting Claims, One Agreed Fact
Trump confirmed that the airman was “SAFE and SOUND” and hailed it as “the most daring Search and Rescue Operation in U.S. History,” while Iran maintained its operation to foil the rescue was a success.
U.S. Central Command confirmed on social media that American forces rescued the second service member on Saturday, with Trump noting on Truth Social that the airman was seriously wounded but would be “just fine.”
The conflict has killed 13 U.S. military service members so far, with more than 300 wounded, according to U.S. Central Command. No U.S. troops have been taken prisoner by Iran. The daring rescue, regardless of which narrative one accepts, underscores the intensifying and increasingly dangerous nature of the ongoing conflict over Iranian territory.
Also Read / Two Parachutes, One Missing: The Downed U.S. Jet That Changed the Iran War’s Calculus.
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