TEHRAN — Iran’s military command announced on Sunday that a United States rescue operation aimed at recovering the pilot of a downed F-15E fighter-bomber has ended in failure, with Iranian air defences destroying two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 military transport aircraft in the south of Isfahan province.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam Al-Anbiya central headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, confirmed the outcome in a statement broadcast by the Iranian state-run network IRIB. “The enemy’s efforts to rescue the pilot of the downed plane have failed. In the south of Isfahan, enemy air targets were shot down, including two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 military transport aircraft — they are now on fire,” Zolfaghari declared.
The aircraft at the centre of the crisis is believed to be an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bomber, a twin-seat platform typically operated by a pilot and a weapons systems officer. Iranian air defences are reported to have brought down the aircraft in an earlier engagement, prompting Washington to launch the subsequent — and ultimately unsuccessful — rescue operation.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency had previously reported that the Iranian military may have captured at least one American crew member who ejected from the stricken aircraft following its interception. The fate of both crew members remains a matter of acute international concern as the situation continues to develop.
The incident marks a significant escalation in the ongoing military confrontation between the United States and Iran, with the destruction of multiple American rotary-wing and fixed-wing assets on Iranian territory representing a substantial operational and symbolic setback for Washington. The events unfold against the broader backdrop of the US-Israeli military campaign targeting Iran, which has drawn widespread condemnation across the Global South.
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