How a perilous US rescue mission in Iran nearly went off course
Written by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) – Rescue efforts were carried out with almost perfect precision. U.S. commandos crept deep into Iran undetected under cover of darkness, scaled a 7,000-foot peak and pulled a stranded American weapons expert to safety, leading him toward a secret rendezvous point before dawn Sunday.
Then everything stopped.
Two MC-130 planes carrying some of about 100 special operations forces into rugged terrain south of Tehran suffered a mechanical failure and were unable to take off, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
Elite commandos suddenly faced the risk of being caught behind enemy lines.
Their commander made a high-risk decision and ordered additional planes to fly to Iran to take out the group in waves; This decision kept the elite commandos waiting for several tense hours.
“If ever there was a ‘God bless’ moment, this is it,” said the official, who believes that quick decision-making saved the day. The official and others who spoke to Reuters for this story were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly about the operation.
The gamble paid off. The rescue force was withdrawn in phases, and U.S. troops destroyed the disabled MC-130s and four additional helicopters inside Iran rather than risk leaving sensitive equipment behind.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The successful landing ended one of the most dangerous periods of the five-week conflict, preventing catastrophic American casualties and easing a mounting crisis for President Donald Trump as he decides whether to escalate a war that has already killed thousands.
THE FALLING PILOT WAS HIDING, HE COMMUNICATED
The rescued US weapons expert was the second of two crew members aboard the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, which Iran said was shot down by its air defense system on Friday. The US official said the plane was flying over Isfahan province when it was shot down and two airmen jumped from the plane separately. While the pilot was rescued, the second airman remained in Iran.
U.S. aircrews are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques when they fall behind enemy lines, but few speak fluent Persian and face the challenge of remaining undetected while seeking rescue.
A US source familiar with some of the operational details said the American officer, whom Trump said was a colonel, sprained his ankle and hid in a crevice in a hill.
The airman later contacted the U.S. military and confirmed his identity, the official said; This was a critical step to ensure rescue forces did not fall into a trap.
The CIA previously waged a deception campaign, hoping to confuse Tehran by planting information in Iran that U.S. forces had located the missing airman and moved him before the operation took place, a senior Trump administration official said.
But a US source familiar with the planning said the US military took additional steps by blocking electronics and bombing major roads in the area to prevent people from approaching.
The source told Reuters that the plane sent to extract the airmen and rescue forces was much smaller, capable of landing at small airfields and relatively light.
Throughout the operation, the White House, the Pentagon and the US military’s Central Command remained uncharacteristically quiet. Trump was so quiet that a local reporter went to check if he was at Walter Reed Hospital.
After the mission was completed, Trump emerged victorious.
“Over the past several hours, the U.S. Military conducted one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” Trump said in a statement. he said, adding that the airman was injured but “will be fine.”
US PLANE WAS SHOT
The search efforts, which started on Friday after the rescue of the F-15 pilot, were met with fierce resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters participating in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.
In a separate incident, a pilot from an A-10 Warthog fighter jet ejected after being shot down over Kuwait, but the extent of injuries to the crew were unclear, officials said.
U.S. Central Command said 13 U.S. service members were killed and more than 300 were injured in the conflict. No US soldiers were captured by Iran.
Military experts say the ability to repeatedly shoot down U.S. planes is important, even though Trump has repeatedly tried to portray Iran’s military as distraught.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya joint military command said on Saturday that the military used a new air defense system to target a US warplane on Friday.
Reuters first reported that US intelligence showed Iran has large missile and drone capabilities.
Until about a week ago, the United States could only definitively determine that Iran had destroyed about a third of its missile arsenal.
The status of about a third was less clear, but the bombings likely damaged, destroyed or buried these missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.
Trump, who appeared unburdened after the successful rescue, used harsh language on Sunday to threaten Tehran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil flows vital to the world economy.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
