Iranian state media has shared pictures and video purportedly showing the wreckage of multiple American aircraft destroyed by the US Air Force to prevent them from falling into the regime’s hands amid the daring rescue mission to save the missing airmen.
The video, reportedly showing the charred remains of two $100 million MC-130J specialized transport planes and four MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, was shared by Iran’s Fars News agency.
The USAF was able to create a forward arming and refuelling point (FARP) at an abandoned airport south of Isfahan, right under the nose of the Iranian military, as it tracked down the stranded crew member who was shot down over enemy territory on Friday.
Iran’s regime has attempted to sell the rescue operation—which resulted in no American casualties—as a failure — and a repeat of the disastrous Operation Eagle Claw attempt to free the American hostages during the Iranian revolution.
“The so-called US military rescue operation, planned as a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan under the pretext of recovering the pilot of a downed aircraft, was completely foiled,” Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said in a statement Sunday.
Iran has also claimed that the pictures show aircraft that were downed by Iranian missiles.
The F-15E pilot, a colonel, was able to successfully parachute out of his aircraft on Friday and landed in a forested area in the Zagros Mountains, according to US officials.
He moved on foot into the mountains before activating his locator beacon, and successfully evading capture for 36 hours before he was evacuated Sunday morning.
At least nine Iranian soldiers were reportedly killed in the seven-hour firefight to retrieve him, before he was flown to a nearby base in Kuwait for treatment.
