Trump announces rescue of second missing pilot
US President Donald Trump announced that the military was able to rescue the second pilot of an F15E fighter jet that was shot down in Iran on Friday.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump said the US military had carried out one of the most daring search and rescue operations in the history of the country.
“We got it back… I am happy to inform you that he is now safe and healthy”.
He said he had instructed dozens of planes equipped with the world’s deadliest weapons to carry out the operation, which he described as a miracle.
“This operation came as a supplement to the successful rescue of another brave pilot yesterday (Saturday), but we didn’t confirm this so as not to jeopardize the second rescue”.
“This is the first time in military memory that two American pilots have been rescued separately from deep in enemy territory,” Trump said.
The fact that they were able to carry out these operations without killing or injuring any Americans “proves once again that we have achieved superiority and overwhelming air control in Iran’s airspace”, he said.
In another post on the same platform, Trump announced that several Iranian military leaders had been killed in a recent attack by his country, without specifying a date, against Iran.
On Friday, the US military acknowledged the downing of an F15E fighter jet in Ira.
The agency reported, citing US officials, that one of the pilots had been rescued, while the search for the second, which Trump also announced had been found, continued.
Iran announced that it had shot down a Hermes 900 drone over the airspace of the central city of Isfahan.
On Sunday, Iranian state television broadcast a statement issued by the Revolutionary Guards headquarters in Markazi province.
The statement reads: “A Hermes 900 drone spotted in the airspace of Isfahan was destroyed”.
The statement noted that the number of drones shot down by the Revolutionary Guards since the outbreak of the war on February 28 has exceeded 160.
On Saturday, 6 people were killed and 5 others were wounded in US-Israeli attacks targeting the provinces of Ardabil (north), Kohkiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad in southwestern Iran.
The semi-official Iranian Tasnim news agency quoted Ardabil deputy governor Ibrahim Emami as saying that attacks on the Jarmi and Jafarabad areas in the province resulted in the death of 3 people and the wounding of 3 others.
In this context, Iraj Kazmijo, the mayor of the Kahkiluyeh area of Kahkiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmed governorate, said in statements to Tasnim that 3 people were martyred and 2 others were wounded in a US-Israeli missile attack that targeted the Kohi Sayyah area.
He added that there are fears that the number of victims will rise, noting that search and rescue work is continuing in the area.
