US Rescues Two F-15 Crew Members After Jet Downed in Iran with CIA Deception Aid

The United States conducted a rescue operation for two crew members of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that was shot down in southwestern Iran. The incident occurred over the weekend, with the first crew member, the pilot, rescued in broad daylight over Iran in an effort that took seven hours.

The second crew member, a weapons systems officer, was extracted after hiding in a mountain crevice. US officials, including President Donald Trump, maintained silence on the operation for more than 24 hours after the crash to avoid jeopardizing the effort.

Trump and top administration members monitored the crew members' locations continuously. In social media posts on Truth Social, Trump described the rescues as the first in military memory of two US pilots extracted separately deep in enemy territory.

The CIA launched a deception operation inside Iran, spreading information that the United States had located the second crew member and was moving him by ground to extract him. According to a senior Trump administration official speaking on condition of anonymity, this confusion allowed the CIA to uncover the crew member's location in a mountain crevice.

The agency then provided coordinates to the Pentagon and the White House, leading to a rescue order from Trump. Meanwhile, Iranian state television, through an anchor on an affiliated channel, urged residents in the mountainous region of southwestern Iran to search for and hand over any 'enemy pilot' to police, promising a reward.

Iranian state media reported that airstrikes in the area on Saturday killed at least three people and wounded others, in the vicinity where the second crew member was believed to be located. Trump stated that the second crew member was seriously wounded but expected to recover.

He directed the military to deploy dozens of heavily armed aircraft for the rescue at the appropriate moment.