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US Airman Rescued in Iran: A Two-Day Struggle
US Airman Survives in Iranian Mountains
An American airman spent nearly two days isolated in the unforgiving, mountainous terrain of southwestern Iran after being shot down. Injured and with only a handgun for protection, he evaded closing Iranian forces and militiamen. The Iranian military offered a bounty of $66,000 for his capture, prompting hundreds of ordinary Iranians to head into the mountains to find him.
Despite injuries sustained during ejection from his fighter jet, the weapons systems officer leveraged his extensive military training to hike up a 2,130-meter ridgeline. Fears were high that if captured, he would be used as leverage against the US and Israel.
Massive Rescue Operation and CIA's Crucial Role
The rescue mission involved a significant deployment of US military assets. Hundreds of special operations troops and dozens of C-130 warplanes and rescue helicopters flew low and slow over Iran's mountainous terrain. President Donald Trump described the mission as utilizing 'the most lethal weapons on the planet.'
America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a crucial role, tracking the airman to a mountainous crevice and relaying his exact location to the Pentagon. The CIA also engaged in a deception campaign inside Iran, spreading false information that the airman had already been found and extracted. Around midnight on Saturday, President Trump signaled the end of the search with three words on his social network: 'We got him.' The airman, injured but alive, was flown to Kuwait for medical treatment, marking what Trump called the 'most daring rescue mission in American history.'
*Source: YouTube: CGTN (2026-04-06)*
