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Conflict in the Middle East

Missing US crew member rescued in 'daring' operation in Iran

177 replies

Twiglets1 · 05/04/2026 06:41

A missing U.S. service member who was shot down in Iran has been rescued following a risky mission deep behind enemy lines in mountainous terrain, Donald Trump has announced.

“WE GOT HIM!” the president posted on Truth Social shortly after midnight on Saturday. “My fellow Americans, over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History.”

Iranian authorities had offered a bounty to anyone who handed over the missing airman alive, a state television anchor announced previously. White House officials had remained largely silent on the search.

Trump said that the unnamed airman had sustained injuries during the crash but “will be just fine.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-iran-pilot-rescue-b2952011.html

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Twiglets1 · 05/04/2026 06:51

The airman, armed only with a pistol while in hiding, was equipped with a beacon and a secure communication device for coordinating with forces mounting the rescue.

Fox News reported that the weapons officer had hiked away from the wreckage and took cover in an elevated ridge to await rescue.

Finding him had been the U.S. military’s highest priority over the last 48 hours, sources told The New York Times, with a senior official describing the mission as among the most challenging in U.S. military history. The search involved hundreds hundreds of troops, dozens of warplanes, helicopters and other intelligence networks.

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LoudSnoringDog · 05/04/2026 06:52

I’m struggling to believe this is true, given the daily bullshit we are fed about this war.

Twiglets1 · 05/04/2026 07:05

LoudSnoringDog · 05/04/2026 06:52

I’m struggling to believe this is true, given the daily bullshit we are fed about this war.

If you really think that you must be getting your "news" from social media.

It's not exactly something that could realistically be lied about.

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notimagain · 05/04/2026 07:15

LoudSnoringDog · 05/04/2026 06:52

I’m struggling to believe this is true, given the daily bullshit we are fed about this war.

The US (and some other nations) will move heaven and earth to extract downed aircrew so this is all entirely credible, they even have specialist units comprised of personnel trained and equipped for exactly this sort of operation.

I've mentioned this example elsewhere but it's maybe worth mentioning again..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RogerLocher

P.S. Thanks to @Twiglet1 for using "crewmember"...IYKYK.

Roger Locher - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Locher

JulietteHasAGun · 05/04/2026 07:21

Very glad they found him. Was worrying they wouldn’t get to him in time.

ProudAmberTurtle · 05/04/2026 07:22

Fantastic news. Thanks

NewGirlInTown · 05/04/2026 07:26

Brilliant news.

connie26 · 05/04/2026 07:30

Thank God.

MyThreeWords · 05/04/2026 07:50

Great that he has been safely found, but I can't stand the tone with which the drama of the missing crewmembers has been covered in the media. BBC radio news covered it at such great length the other day, out of all proportion to the deaths, suffering and loss experienced by people who are the victims of America's illegal assault on Iran. It felt jingoistic.
There was an implicit tone that we should all be rooting for these plucky heroes, caught in a land of cruelty. I do care for their welfare, but only as much as I care for the welfare of the people they were attacking.

StrawberryShieldsForever · 05/04/2026 08:07

It is said this region is not friendly to the regime and that locals were blocking IRGC movement in the area.

Twiglets1 · 05/04/2026 08:07

Had the IRGC got hold of him first, they would have used him for propaganda purposes.

So there was more than one man’s welfare at stake, though that was important too as they could have tortured him.

For anyone who didn’t want the IRGC to be able to use him for propaganda purposes, it’s a relief that the US got to him first. Many people are not fans of the US, but surely the IRGC are worse? They are a proscribed terrorist organisation in many countries including the EU. They murdered thousands of their own people as recently as January.

Trump’s language is over the top but that’s typical Trump.

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MyThreeWords · 05/04/2026 08:19

For anyone who didn’t want the IRGC to be able to use him for propaganda purposes, it’s a relief that the US got to him first.

They would probably have made him, in effect, a hostage and a bargaining chip, which is standard practice for prisoners of war in many conflicts. And of course it would be a propaganda point for them.

But I was way more worried about Trump and his cronies, not just Iran, using the poor guy for propaganda purposes if he was detained by the Iranians. It would have allowed Trump (and the US) to riff endlessly on the lie that powerful aggressors use to justify the wars that they start - the lie of victimhood.

Whether it's tariffs or invasions or leaving NATO or brutalising immigrants the underlying faux justification is always the same: it is the lie of victimhood. The US has been wronged by others and so is entitled to act with aggression.

If the crewmember had been made a prisoner of war, that would have been used to give an aura of substance to the lie. It would have been a running sore.

notimagain · 05/04/2026 08:19

StrawberryShieldsForever · 05/04/2026 08:07

It is said this region is not friendly to the regime and that locals were blocking IRGC movement in the area.

There are certainly some stories by western commentators circling on conduits such as X that, whether true or not, won't be helpful to the locals.

This is one of those times when some in the media need to hold their tongues, rather than starting to play the "look what I know/knew" game.

ProudAmberTurtle · 05/04/2026 08:21

From an anti Iranian regime Middle Eastern channel on Telegram:

The American pilot hid on an elevated ridge in the mountainous and forested area where he landed. He moved on foot away from the point where he parachuted down and then activated a "locator beacon."
The mountainous, forested, and uninhabited terrain bought him precious time and allowed him to survive without the Iranian forces and regime-supporting villagers managing to reach him.

In the early morning, the rescue operation reached its peak: two American C-130 transport planes carrying American commando forces landed at an improvised airfield in Iranian territory—250 km from the nearest friendly border—Kuwait.

Simultaneously with the progress of the rescue efforts, the CIA launched an influence operation—a deception operation—and spread among the Iranians that the pilot had already been rescued, in order to create confusion even though the operation was still underway (in Israel, surely several journalists from certain media outlets would have complained about the influence-deception operation 😄).

Basij forces that approached the area and endangered the rescue team were destroyed from the air—there are at least 9 Iranian fatalities among them.

Broadcast stations and Iranian transmitters in the nearby city of Dehdasht were attacked from the air.

After the pilot was located by American forces on the ground and preparations began for extraction, the wheels of the two American transport planes got stuck in the sand and they could not take off.
The US military flew in additional transport planes to extract the American forces from the site.
The stranded transport planes were bombed from the air by the US so they would not fall into Iranian hands (the Iranians claim they were the ones who managed to hit the American planes).

The American forces took off and landed at a nearby base in Kuwait (about 250 km away).

notimagain · 05/04/2026 08:26

@MyThreeWords

They would probably have made him, in effect, a hostage and a bargaining chip, which is standard practice for prisoners of war in many conflicts. And of course it would be a propaganda point for them.

If the IRGC, which despite everything has something close to disciplne and a chain of command, had got hold of him then maybe.

OTOH if some of the regime associated militia and other hot heads had got to him first then he may not have survived long enough to have been a bargaining chip.

Twiglets1 · 05/04/2026 08:28

MyThreeWords · 05/04/2026 08:19

For anyone who didn’t want the IRGC to be able to use him for propaganda purposes, it’s a relief that the US got to him first.

They would probably have made him, in effect, a hostage and a bargaining chip, which is standard practice for prisoners of war in many conflicts. And of course it would be a propaganda point for them.

But I was way more worried about Trump and his cronies, not just Iran, using the poor guy for propaganda purposes if he was detained by the Iranians. It would have allowed Trump (and the US) to riff endlessly on the lie that powerful aggressors use to justify the wars that they start - the lie of victimhood.

Whether it's tariffs or invasions or leaving NATO or brutalising immigrants the underlying faux justification is always the same: it is the lie of victimhood. The US has been wronged by others and so is entitled to act with aggression.

If the crewmember had been made a prisoner of war, that would have been used to give an aura of substance to the lie. It would have been a running sore.

His rescue will inevitably be used for propaganda by Trump and his cronies too.

But at least the airman won’t be held hostage or harmed in the propaganda.

It’s a good result that he was rescued by the US & genuinely impressive in my opinion, considering the difficult rescue conditions.

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CharlotteRumpling · 05/04/2026 08:33

No doubt there will be a sad Oscar winning movie about his trauma and bravery in a few years, but of course no movie about the civilian casualties in Iran.
That does not mean I support the IRGC..

EasternStandard · 05/04/2026 08:37

notimagain · 05/04/2026 08:26

@MyThreeWords

They would probably have made him, in effect, a hostage and a bargaining chip, which is standard practice for prisoners of war in many conflicts. And of course it would be a propaganda point for them.

If the IRGC, which despite everything has something close to disciplne and a chain of command, had got hold of him then maybe.

OTOH if some of the regime associated militia and other hot heads had got to him first then he may not have survived long enough to have been a bargaining chip.

I’m glad he was rescued before he was used or killed.

Gloriia · 05/04/2026 08:45

Brilliant news! The thought of what they'd do to him if caught was horrifying.

What a mission to have pulled off, the US military really are in a league of their own. If it was the UK Starmer would still be scratching his head wondering if there was a helicopter available to go have a quick look from a very cautious distance.

Overtheatlantic · 05/04/2026 08:48

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Gloriia · 05/04/2026 08:54

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Why is it a 'bit rich', it's true. They could lie about this but surely they'd be rumbled when the Iranians paraded <and worse> a captured US serviceman?

ProudAmberTurtle · 05/04/2026 09:05

CharlotteRumpling · 05/04/2026 08:33

No doubt there will be a sad Oscar winning movie about his trauma and bravery in a few years, but of course no movie about the civilian casualties in Iran.
That does not mean I support the IRGC..

The IRGC have killed about 1,000 times more Iranian civilians than the US has

Overtheatlantic · 05/04/2026 09:07

Gloriia · 05/04/2026 08:54

Why is it a 'bit rich', it's true. They could lie about this but surely they'd be rumbled when the Iranians paraded <and worse> a captured US serviceman?

Because Fox News is a far right wing media outlet and doesn’t care about forwarding the lies told by the maga administration.

CharlotteRumpling · 05/04/2026 09:08

ProudAmberTurtle · 05/04/2026 09:05

The IRGC have killed about 1,000 times more Iranian civilians than the US has

Yes, we are all well aware. And the war has helped: how? The IRGC still there, regime still there, Iranian protesters still being slaughtered and the world economy decimated.
We can all see through GI Joe US propaganda by now.

EasternStandard · 05/04/2026 09:09

ProudAmberTurtle · 05/04/2026 09:05

The IRGC have killed about 1,000 times more Iranian civilians than the US has

Sadly executing young people daily. Not much on that but it’s horrific.

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