Authors: Phil Stewart, Idris Ali and Humaira Pamuk
WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) – The rescue operation unfolded almost perfectly. Under cover of darkness, U.S. commandos infiltrated undetected deep into Iran, scaled a 7,000-foot ridge, pulled a stranded U.S. weapons expert to safety and delivered him to a secret rendezvous point before dawn Sunday.
Then everything stopped.
An unnamed U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that two MC-130 aircraft that had ferried some of the approximately 100 special operations troops into the rugged terrain south of Tehran were unable to take off due to mechanical problems.
Suddenly, elite commandos risk being trapped behind enemy lines.
Their commander made the high-stakes decision to order more planes to Iran to rescue the group in batches – a decision that kept the elite commandos waiting nervously for several hours.
“If there was ever an ‘oh my god’ moment, this was it,” said the official, who credited quick decisions with saving the day. The official and others who spoke to Reuters requested anonymity to speak candidly about the operation.
The gamble worked. Rescue forces were withdrawn in phases, and U.S. forces destroyed the disabled MC-130 and four other helicopters inside Iran rather than risk leaving sensitive equipment behind.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The successful evacuation ends the most dangerous episode of the five-week conflict, averting a potentially catastrophic loss of American lives and easing a growing crisis for President Donald Trump as he weighs whether to escalate a war that has killed thousands.
Downed pilot hides and makes contact
The rescued U.S. weapons expert is the second of two crew members on board an F-15E Strike Eagle that Iran said on Friday was hit by its air defense system. U.S. officials said the plane was flying over Isfahan province when it was shot down and the two pilots ejected separately. The pilot was rescued, while the second pilot remained in Iran.
American aircrews are trained in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques if shot down behind enemy lines, but few are fluent in Farsi and face the challenge of remaining undetected while seeking rescue.
A U.S. source familiar with some of the details of the operation said the U.S. officer, whom Trump said had the rank of colonel, sprained his ankle and hid in a crevice on the top of the mountain.
The official said the pilot later established contact with the U.S. military and verified his identity – a critical step in ensuring rescue forces did not fall into a trap.
A senior Trump administration official said the CIA had earlier launched a deception campaign to confuse Tehran by planting information inside Iran that the U.S. military had found the missing pilot and moved him before the operation could begin.
But U.S. sources familiar with the plan said the U.S. military took extra steps to jam electronic equipment and bomb main roads around the site to keep people away.
The plane eventually sent to rescue the pilot and rescuers was a much smaller turboprop capable of landing at small airports and was relatively lightweight, sources told Reuters.
The White House, Pentagon and U.S. Central Command have remained uncharacteristically silent throughout the operation. Trump was so relatively quiet that local reporters went to see if he was at Walter Reed Hospital.
Mission accomplished, Trump emerged victorious.
“Over the past few hours, the U.S. military completed one of the most daring search and rescue operations in American history,” Trump said in a statement, adding that the pilot was injured but “he’s going to be fine.”
American plane hit
An initial search effort began on Friday after the F-15 pilot was initially rescued, but was met with strong resistance from Iran.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search were hit by Iranian fire but fled Iranian airspace.
In a separate incident, a pilot was ejected from an A-10 Warthog after an A-10 Warthog fighter jet was hit and crashed over Kuwait, but the extent of crew injuries was unclear, officials said.
The U.S. Central Command said 13 U.S. service members were killed and more than 300 injured in the conflict. No American troops have been captured by Iran.
Military experts say Iran’s military is capable of repeatedly hitting U.S. aircraft despite Trump’s repeated attempts to portray it as fragmented.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Joint Military Command said on Saturday that the military used a new air defense system to target a U.S. fighter jet on Friday.
Reuters first reported U.S. intelligence showing Iran retains substantial missile and drone capabilities.
Until just over a week ago, the United States was not certain it had destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal.
Reuters sources said the condition of about a third of the missiles was unclear, but the explosion may have damaged, destroyed or buried them in underground tunnels and bunkers.
Trump appeared unburdened after the rescue, and on Sunday he used harsh language to threaten Tehran if it did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing oil to flow vital to the world economy.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Don Durfee and Howard Goller)
