C14Hundreds of commandos on Iranian soil: new details about the rescue operation | Watch the full report and discussion from the special broadcast with Tal Meir
After almost 48 dramatic hours, after an American F15 plane was shot down in the skies of Iran, this morning, United States President Donald Trump announced the end of one of the most daring and complex rescue operations the American military has ever known
The drama began on Friday, when an American fighter jet was hit by an Iranian surface-to-air missile during an operational activity deep in enemy territory and crashed in a mountainous and isolated area in southern Iran. While the remains of the plane were located by local forces, a deadly race against time began: the Revolutionary Guards sent massive ground forces to the area in an attempt to capture the pilots and use them as a strategic asset and a bargaining chip against the Trump administration.
An American source told Al Jazeera that only this morning was the second pilot, a very senior staff officer, located, who managed to elude Iranian forces for almost 48 hours in difficult terrain conditions.
In an official statement issued by President Trump, he praised the professionalism of the American military and revealed that this was the second rescue in the last two days, after another pilot was rescued yesterday under a heavy media blackout. “This is the first time in military memory that two pilots have been rescued separately from deep inside enemy territory,” the president said.
“This brave fighter was being pursued by our enemies, who were getting closer to him by the hour,” Trump described the tense moments. “On my orders, the military sent dozens of planes with the world’s deadliest weapons to bring him back. The fact that we did this without a single American being harmed proves that we have achieved complete superiority over the skies of Iran.”
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