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

[Twiglets1]

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

In case Alan continues to minimise the scale of Iranian protests in 'a few a couple of cities' (couple means 2).

Another report:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2026/01/what-happened-at-the-protests-in-iran/

So trump apparently got weapons to the people which increases the violence but trump himself said the people he gave weapons to ( it seems he didn't want too ) kept them .

There is no way that some people could themselves have been armed the only way anyone in that crowd got a weapon was via this USA system.

But at the same time , trump left them high and dry ?

Trump told them all to go and protest ,it wasn't caused by market holders and food crisis ?

I'm no trump fan but even I am struggling at the mental gymnastics here.

So regardless of whether anyone is for or against the war, to stop the regime gaining nuclear weapons, its obvious some will happily minimise the suffering Iranian people had before the war.

"Despite restrictions, Amnesty International has verified evidence showing that authorities have carried out mass unlawful killings on an unprecedented scale amid the internet blackout. Heavily armed security forces are also conducting patrols and establishing checkpoints across the country. Authorities have deployed armed units in the streets to enforce nighttime curfews since 9 January, sending a message that anyone gathering or stepping outside after curfew will face lethal force."

I want the war to end and also the brutal suffering and suppression of the Iranian people to end. It DID HAPPEN EN MASSE, THOUSANDS DIED and not just in a couple of cities.

I am not minimizing anything. I put that right at top. It started in one city and spread. A couple of cities. I cant open your link sorry.

I am happy to be corrected because I do post mostly from memory. How many cities did it spread to. And I mean large scale where shootings happened ?

Re economic hardship in Iran, it is worth looking at the 2018 document announcing Trumps withdrawal from the JCPOA. Here it is:

President Donald J. Trump is Ending United States Participation in an Unacceptable Iran Deal – The White House (archives.gov)

A clip from that :

• The President has directed his Administration to immediately begin the process of re-imposing sanctions related to the JCPOA.
• The re-imposed sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as its energy, petrochemical, and financial sectors.
• Those doing business in Iran will be provided a period of time to allow them to wind down operations in or business involving Iran.

So although it is really beyond the subject in hand, it can be argued that Trump worked at creating the economic hardship.

😂 my oh my

As you can see @RedTagAlan not just a couple of cities had uprising as you suggested 🤔now why might you want to minimise the uprisings?

I am happy to be corrected. As I said tho when you posted an amnesty report, I could not open it. And I can't open this amnesty report either.

Are you not in the UK? There are no restrictions on Amnesty link

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2026/01/what-happened-at-the-protests-in-iran/

Amnesty produce evidence for many human rights abuses.

The Wikipedia basic information showed hundreds of cities involved in uprisings.

Posted earlier.

Also a BBC report citing uprisings in over 100 cities in Iran.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7y0579lp8o

Not in UK. I can't open Amnesty.

"It was the 12th consecutive day of unrest that has been sparked by anger over the collapse of the Iranian currency and has spread to more than 100 cities and towns across all 31 of Iran's provinces, according to human rights groups." BBC report.

I linked to Amnesty because some don't like BBC, or various others

Thats a shame.

Since Amnesty produce reports on various countries and various matters.

I know what they do.

Indeed, it's a shame you are missing out on their information.

The protests happened off the back of economic hardship that had been worsened by Trump's sanctions against Iran. Once the financial situation reached a tipping point the market sellers started protesting

These protests then switched focus to demand for regime change.

During this time Trump encouraged the Iranian people to continue protesting, stating that help was on the way. It seems from Trump's latest statements that that help was to send guns to the Kurds to disseminate amongst the population.

The IRGC claimed at the time that some of the protesting groups were armed. Whether this is true or not is yet to be determined although the vast majority of protesters would definitely not have been armed.

It isn't implausible to think that any intelligence that picked up on Trump's intervention and the import of guns into Iran to overthrow the government would have sparked additional tensions and contributed to a harder crackdown on protesters in case the rumours were true. Plus your average IRGC or Basij soldier is going to feel slightly more trigger happy if they feel their life is at threat from being shot at by armed members of the public.

Aside from fanning the flames and throwing guns into the mix, Trump did leave the people high and dry. Many of the protesters who weren't killed or executed are currently in prison, where they are now particularly vulnerable during the war - a war that Trump and Netanyahu started and the majority of the Iranian population (I would happily wager) do not want. Blindly throwing guns at a situation and starting a war doesn't count as not leaving people high and dry when it has actually worsened their situation rather than improve it

Today is " Blast Iranians back to the Stone Age" day unless a deal comes through, yes?

Supposedly yes, I barely slept last night. I'm hoping it was a USA bluff because the regime doesn't capitulate to these sorts of threats

I can well imagine. I hope there is a deal of some sort.

Thanks. So 100 cities, not a couple as I said. I am totally corrected.

Did your amnesty report say how many of the cities there was killing in ? My limited experience of these events is that it is mainly concentrated in one or two areas, with smaller "satellite " protests elsewhere.

For example, last time there were similar protests ( no shootings reported) where I am, the bulk of the arrests were in 2 or 3 major places. Where I am, nothing, and nobody where I am really even knew about it. It was all over world news media, but nothing in the national news. In fact, the vids that made it onto messaging apps was deleted by the state too.

And this is the point I am trying to make. Information is controlled in many countries. We can even see this in the Gulf states now.

Thanks.

We all make mistakes, I've made some in misinterpreting information. I think with text, tone is lost, I believe we all want the best for innocents caught up in this

Not sure, I'll take a look later. Off to work now.

The report is quite long

"Shortly after the bazaar merchants’ protests started in Tehran, they quickly spread to street protests in cities and towns across the country. Some of the provinces that have witnessed large scale protests, and lethal crackdowns, include Alborz, Kermanshah, Tehran and Razavi Khorosan. According to the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, protests reached all of Iran’s 31 provinces.

In the aftermath of the massacres of thousands by security forces on 8 and 9 January, thousands more were arrested and a nighttime curfew was imposed in major cities, as heavily armed security forces patrolled the streets. Amid the ongoing militarized clampdown, large scale mass protests appear to no longer take place, but the grievances and demands expressed by protesters, including calling for the end to the Islamic Republic system, remain.

Given the internet shutdown imposed by the Iranian authorities since 8 January, it is challenging to get up to date information from the ground."

"Despite restrictions, Amnesty International has verified evidence showing that authorities have carried out mass unlawful killings on an unprecedented scale amid the internet blackout. Heavily armed security forces are also conducting patrols and establishing checkpoints across the country. Authorities have deployed armed units in the streets to enforce nighttime curfews since 9 January, sending a message that anyone gathering or stepping outside after curfew will face lethal force."