How a perilous US rescue mission in Iran nearly went off course

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WASHINGTON – The rescue had unfolded with near-perfect precision. Under the cover of darkness, US commandos slipped deep into Iran, undetected, scaled a 2,100m ridge and pulled a stranded American weapons specialist to safety, moving him towards a secret rendezvous point before dawn on April 5.

Then everything stopped.

Two MC-130 aircraft that had ferried some of the roughly 100 special operations forces into rugged terrain south of Tehran suffered mechanical failure and could not take off, a US official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Suddenly, elite commandos risked being stuck behind enemy lines.

Their commanders made a high-risk decision, ordering additional aircraft to fly into Iran to extract the group in waves – a decision that left the elite commandos waiting for a couple of tense hours.

“If there was a ‘holy shit’ moment, that was it,” said the official, who credited quick decision-making with saving the day. The official, along with others who spoke to Reuters for this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the operation.

The gamble worked. The rescue force was pulled out in stages, and US troops destroyed the disabled MC-130s and four additional helicopters inside Iran rather than risk leaving sensitive equipment behind.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The successful extraction ended one of the most perilous episodes of the five-week-old conflict, averting what could have been a catastrophic loss of American lives and easing a mounting crisis for US President Donald Trump as he weighs whether to escalate a war that has already killed thousands.

Downed pilot hid, made contact

The rescued US weapons specialist was the second of two crew members on an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet that Iran said ​on April 3 had been hit by its air defences. The US official said the plane was flying over Isfahan province when it was brought down, and the two airmen ejected separately. The pilot was rescued while the second airman remained in Iran.

US aircrews are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape techniques if downed behind enemy lines, but few are fluent in Persian and face challenges in staying undetected while seeking rescue.

A US source familiar with some of the operational details said the American officer, whom Mr Trump said held the rank of colonel, sprained his ankle and hid in a crevice on a hilltop.

The official said the airman later established contact with the US military and authenticated himself – a critical step to ensure rescue forces were not walking into a trap.

The Central Intelligence Agency had run a deception campaign earlier, hoping to confuse Tehran by planting information inside Iran that US forces had already located the missing airman and were moving him before the operation took place, a senior Trump administration official said.

But the US military took additional steps, jamming electronics and bombing key roads around the location to prevent people from getting close, the US source familiar with the planning said.

The source told Reuters that the aircraft eventually sent to extract the airman and rescue forces were much smaller turboprop aircraft, capable of landing on small airfields and relatively light.

Throughout the operation, the White House, the Pentagon and the US military’s Central Command were uncharacteristically silent. Mr Trump was so relatively quiet that a local reporter went to check if he was at Walter Reed Hospital.

Once the mission was complete, the US leader was triumphant.

“Over the past several hours, the United States military pulled off one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history,” he said in a statement, adding that the airman was injured, but “he will be just fine”.

US aircraft hit

The initial search effort encountered fierce resistance from Iran when it began on April 3, after the F-15 pilot was initially rescued.

Reuters reported on April 4 that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but escaped from Iranian airspace.

In a separate incident, a pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft after it was hit over Kuwait and crashed, the officials said, though the extent of the crew’s injuries was unclear.

The conflict has killed 13 US military service members, with more than 300 wounded, the US Central Command says. No US troops have been taken prisoner by Iran.

While Mr Trump has repeatedly sought to portray the Iranian military as being in tatters, its ability to repeatedly hit US aircraft is significant, military experts say.

​Iran’s Khatam ​al-Anbiya joint military command said ​on April 5 that the military used a ​new air ‌defence system on April 3 ​to ​target a US ⁠fighter jet.

Reuters first reported on US intelligence showing that Iran retains large amounts of missile and drone capability.

Until just over a week ago, the US could only determine with certainty that it had destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal.

The status of about another third was less clear, but bombings probably damaged, destroyed or buried those missiles in underground tunnels and bunkers, Reuters sources said.

Appearing unburdened after the successful rescue, Mr Trump used harsh language on April 5 to threaten Tehran ​if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz for oil flows vital to the world economy. REUTERS