The U.S. forces have safely recovered a second airman downed in Iran, President Donald Trump said Sunday, hailing the mission as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. history.”
"This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies," Trump said on Truth Social.
"He sustained injuries, but he will be just fine."
A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down over Iran Friday, the first U.S. aircraft lost since the start of the war on Feb. 28.
The incident sparked major concern in Washington that Iranian forces might get to the two crew members first and use them as leverage in negotiations to end the fighting.
Trump confirmed that the aircraft's pilot had been rescued earlier, noting the U.S. had initially not disclosed this to avoid jeopardizing the second rescue operation.
"This miraculous Search and Rescue Operation comes in addition to a successful rescue of another brave Pilot, yesterday, which we did not confirm, because we did not want to jeopardize our second rescue operation."
According to media reports, U.S. special forces were deployed to southern Iran to prevent the capture of the second crew member, a weapons systems officer.
Trump said the U.S. military had used "dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the World, to retrieve him."
"This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour," Trump said.
He said the officer "was never truly alone" as the military had been "monitoring his location 24 hours a day."
Citing current and former US officials familiar with the operation, the New York Times reported that "hundreds of special operations troops" were involved in a "two-day effort" to rescue the injured airman.
He was eventually retrieved on Saturday night following "a life-or-death race between U.S. and Iranian forces," the New York Times reported.
Citing an unnamed U.S. government official, Al Jazeera said the officer had been rescued after a "heavy firefight."
According to the New York Times, the service member has been airlifted to Kuwait for treatment.
Two transport aircraft initially due to fly out the man and the special forces got stuck in Iran, according to a U.S. military official cited by the paper.
This led to the deployment of three replacement aircraft to retrieve the troops. The two aircraft they left behind were destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iran's hands, according to the official.
Video footage shows Iranian forces firing at U.S. helicopters in an attempt to obstruct the rescue efforts, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Laurel Rapp, director of the U.S. and North America programme at Chatham House, had told the BBC that if Iran were to find the crew member first, it would represent a "huge prize" for Tehran and give it significant leverage in negotiations to end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28.
Iranian media reported that large sums of up to $100,000 had been offered as a reward for the soldier's capture.
Following the heavy bombardment of Iranian military infrastructure, the Trump administration has repeatedly suggested that U.S. aircraft are no longer at risk of being attacked in Iranian airspace.
Announcing the second service member's rescue Sunday, Trump repeated that claim.
"The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies," he wrote.
It comes after Trump renewed his threat of a major assault against Iranian power stations Saturday if Tehran fails to agree to a peace deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
