A U.S. official said early Sunday that the navigator of an F-15E fighter jet shot down over Iran on Friday has been located following what was described as a “heavy firefight,” as American forces worked to extract him from hostile territory.
Initial reports cited by Al Jazeera said the rescue was still ongoing as U.S. teams worked to extract the navigator. However, Axios later reported that he was already in American hands. An American source said the mission “was carried out by a special commando unit with heavy air cover, and all forces left Iran.”
Wreckage of US aircraft destroyed inside Iran
The Wall Street Journal subsequently confirmed that U.S. forces had successfully rescued the navigator from inside the Islamic Republic.
According to U.S. officials cited by The New York Times, the operation unfolded over nearly two days and was described as a race against time between American and Iranian forces searching for the downed airman.
The mission involved hundreds of special operations troops, dozens of fighter jets and helicopters, and support from cyber, space and intelligence systems.
Fox News reported that Israel was involved in the rescue operation, citing sources familiar with the mission.
According to the report, Israeli officials shared intelligence with U.S. forces as the search-and-rescue effort unfolded. The Israeli military also helped prevent Iranian airstrikes in the area during the roughly 36-hour operation.
The claims have not been independently confirmed.
U.S. aircraft reportedly struck Iranian convoys approaching the area where the navigator was hiding, in an effort to keep them at a distance. As American forces closed in, a firefight broke out with Iranian units, officials said.
A senior U.S. military official described the mission as one of the most complex and challenging rescue operations in the history of U.S. special forces.
Complications emerged after the navigator was located and extracted. According to officials briefed on the operation, two aircraft meant to evacuate the rescue teams malfunctioned at a remote location inside Iran. Commanders were forced to deploy three alternative aircraft to complete the extraction, while the disabled planes were destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands.
The aircraft involved were MC-130Js, which are used to extract forces from behind enemy lines. The official who spoke to The Wall Street Journal did not explain how they became “stranded” during the operation but stressed that their destruction was necessary.
All U.S. forces involved in the operation exited Iranian airspace safely.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that several “enemy flying objects” were destroyed during the U.S. mission to rescue the stranded airman, according to Tasnim news agency.
The statement said the aircraft were downed during a joint operation involving Iran’s Aerospace Force, Ground Forces, Basij units and police.
Iranian authorities claimed the destroyed aircraft included a U.S. C-130 military transport plane and two Black Hawk helicopters, according to the spokesperson of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command of Iran’s armed forces.
Earlier Sunday, Iran’s army also said it had downed an Israeli drone in Isfahan province.
The claims could not be independently verified.
The navigator, whose identity has not been released, was one of two crew members aboard the F-15E. The pilot was rescued separately under fire on Saturday, in an earlier operation in which two helicopters were hit by Iranian fire but landed safely.
In a separate incident, an A-10 aircraft also crashed, and its pilot was rescued from the Gulf without injury.
In a post on Truth Social, U.S. President Donald Trump described the mission as “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History,” saying the navigator, a senior officer with the rank of colonel, was now “SAFE and SOUND.”
“He was behind enemy lines in the mountains of Iran, being hunted by our enemies,” Trump wrote, adding that U.S. leadership tracked his position continuously while planning the rescue.
“At my direction, the U.S. Military sent dozens of aircraft, armed with the most lethal weapons in the world, to retrieve him,” Trump said, noting the officer sustained injuries but would recover.
He also revealed that another pilot had been rescued the previous day in a mission that was not immediately disclosed in order to avoid jeopardizing the second operation.
“This is the first time in military memory that two U.S. pilots have been rescued, separately, deep in enemy territory,” Trump said.
He added that no American personnel were killed or wounded in either operation, calling it proof of “overwhelming air dominance and superiority over the Iranian skies.”
The developments mark a rare and high-risk series of rescue missions deep inside Iranian territory, underscoring both the reach and the limits of U.S. military operations as tensions with Iran continue to escalate.
First published: 07:03, 04.05.26