The update is at the end with more details of the rescue.
President Trump said he expects a deal with Iran by Monday. He also said the US has sent many weapons to protesters through the Kurdish forces. That takes us to today’s daring rescue of the weapons officer on the downed F-15E.
A US airman stranded in Iran’s mountains for 36 hours was rescued thanks to a CIA-led deception campaign and a daring military operation that thwarted Iranian efforts to locate him.
The CIA campaign involved spreading word inside Iran that US forces had already found him and were moving him overland for exfiltration, confusing Iranian forces and leadership in their own search for the missing airman.
While Iranian forces grappled with misinformation, US intelligence was able to aid in locating the airman in Iran and assist in a US special forces extraction mission.
US Forces Fired Weapons to Protect the Rescue Operation
Hundreds of American service members were involved in the rescue of a downed U.S. weapons systems officer in Iran. The operation did not involve a firefight between U.S. and Iranian forces, according to a senior official, but U.S. forces did fire weapons to keep Iranian personnel away from the rescue site.
The rescue followed a 48-hour high-risk search-and-rescue mission. Dozens of US aircraft, including combat search-and-rescue helicopters, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and transport planes, were deployed.
As US commandos approached, Iranian ground forces opened fire, marking a rare confirmed ground engagement between US special forces and Iranian troops inside Iranian territory.
MQ-9 drones established a lethal perimeter, authorized to strike within 3 km to prevent encirclement.
Iranian state media claimed to have destroyed two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 transport during the operation. US reports indicated some aircraft were damaged or destroyed on the ground to prevent capture.
There were no U.S. casualties among the rescue team, Mr. Trump said. All the commandos and the weapons officer returned safely, a senior U.S. military official said. Rescue planes flew the injured airman to Kuwait for medical treatment.
WSO was extracted, injured but alive, and flown to Kuwait for medical treatment. No US fatalities were reported in the final extraction.
IRGC found Basij bodies in southwest Iran mountains after clash with US search-and-rescue forces hunting the downed F-15E WSO. Firefight reported near Dehdasht/Black Mountain; both US crew now rescued. pic.twitter.com/HdwnFzhWR4
— HojeNaGazetaDoMundoMilitar (@HojenoGMM) April 5, 2026
UPDATE
The rescued F-15 crew member said “God is Good” over his radio. This was after he ejected from the aircraft over Iran, according to Axios.
Here are remarkable new details about the rescue, according to Axios:
- The rescued crew member is religious.
- The crew member survived more than 24 hours in the mountains while wounded.
- 200 soldiers from special operations units participated in the rescue.
- The F-15 was shot down with a shoulder-fired missile.
- “Thousands of these savages were hunting him down,” Trump said.
- “The officer hid in a crevice in the mountain and was found thanks to U.S. technology.
- The two crew members were spread apart by a couple miles.
Hundreds of IRGC soldiers were everywhere,” a defense official said.
“The C.I.A. initiated a deception campaign to try to confuse Iranian forces, and convince them the airman had already been rescued and was moving out of the country in a ground convoy,” the NYT reported.
The airman reportedly evaded Iranian forces by hiking up a 7,000-foot ridgeline.
- “U.S. attack aircraft dropped bombs and opened fire on Iranian convoys to keep them away from the area where the airman was hiding,” the NYT continued.
- “In a final twist after the weapons officer was rescued, two transport planes that would carry the commandos and the airmen to safety got stuck at a remote base in Iran.”
- “Commanders decided to fly in three new planes to extract all the U.S. military personnel and the airman, and they blew up the two disabled planes rather than have them fall into Iranian hands.”