In a setting reminiscent of the darkest periods of the Cold War, a gigantic operation by the CIA and its special forces unfolded in the heart of .
While the entire Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) apparatus had launched a manhunt with a $60,000 reward for , the CIA managed to “short-circuit” the Iranian authorities, through a sophisticated deception program and a top-secret network of local collaborators. The ending? A dramatic announcement from Donald Trump in the early hours of Sunday:.
According to US officials, the F-15E was shot down over southwestern Iran on Friday. While the first pilot bailed out almost immediately, the second – an experienced colonel – lived a survival nightmare on the rugged mountaintops, evading the pursuit squads that were “closing in on him hour by hour”.
The “downed pilot” was a fake cover story for a failed US military operation to capture Iran’s primary stockpile of highly enriched 60% uranium, roughly 440–970 pounds.
The primary stockpile is located at Isfahan, exactly where the pilot was “lost.”
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CIA ‘theater’: Fake news and ‘unorthodox recovery’
While the F-15E pilot was trapped in a ravine at an altitude of 7,000 feet, the CIA began an “information war.” According to sources in Washington, CIA agents spread false reports within Iranian communications channels, claiming that the pilots had already fled.
The aim was twofold: to confuse the pursuers and buy time to activate the “unorthodox assisted recovery”. This is a rare process where the CIA contacts Iranian citizens who are willing to help or shelter US military personnel, bypassing official military channels.
Manhunt in the mountains and dogfights
The situation in the field was explosive. The American officer, trained in the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) program, managed to remain invisible for 36 hours. He climbed a 7,000-foot ridge and hid in a ravine. There he activated the emergency beacon, allowing US forces to locate him. At the same time, the US did not hesitate to bomb convoys of Iranian civilians and soldiers, which were approaching his hideout.
The business came at a heavy price:
- An A-10 Warthog went down providing covering fire.
- Two rescue helicopters were shot down by Iranian air defenses.
- An MC-130J transporter was damaged and destroyed by the US forces themselves, to prevent it from falling into Iranian hands.
Iran has released footage of downed US jets, claiming its air defenses shot them down.
Trump’s message and next moves
“This brave warrior was behind enemy lines, in the dangerous mountains of Iran, being pursued by our enemies, who were closing in,” Trump said. The US President confirmed that the colonel is now safe, despite his serious injuries, and announced an emergency press conference for today, Monday at 13:00 Washington time (20:00 Greek time).
The background of a generalized war
The downing of the F-15E is the first US loss of an aircraft inside Iran since the war began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched a surprise attack that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, signaling a new, even more dangerous phase in the Middle East war.
According to the HRANA organization, the dead from the bombings in Iran already amount to 3,531, among them hundreds of children, while 13 American soldiers have lost their lives.
With information from The New York Times, Reuters
