US President Donald Trump threatened to arrest journalists who published details of a daring military operation to rescue two airmen whose plane was shot down over Iran, accusing the press of putting the mission at risk.
Trump called a press conference on Monday to reveal new details of what he called a “historic” effort, in one of the most delicate moments for the US in the month-long conflict. The statements, however, also served as another chapter in the clash with the media over the way his government has been portrayed.
Without citing specific vehicles, Trump stated that reports that only one of the two pilots had been rescued initially would have compromised the attempt to save the second aviator, by “warning” the Iranians about the operation.
“We need to find whoever leaked this, because they are a sick person,” Trump told reporters. “The author of the article will go to jail if he does not reveal [a fonte]. And I think everyone understands that they put that mission at great risk.”
Trump described in detail the search and rescue mission carried out over the weekend, saying that 21 planes were used to rescue one of the pilots and around 155 aircraft to search for the other. According to him, the American military mounted a complex screening operation to remove the second airman, who was isolated in a remote area within Iranian territory.
“In a breathtaking demonstration of skill and precision, lethality and force, the United States Armed Forces descended on the area — the real area —, engaged the enemy, rescued the officer, destroyed all threats and left Iranian territory without suffering any casualties,” he said. “The crews and fighters aboard these aircraft took extraordinary risks to rescue their comrades.”
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According to Trump, the success of the mission depended on “subterfuge”, with aircraft flying over seven different points to confuse Iranian forces about the exact location of the searches.
The president had already anticipated some of the details in social media posts on Sunday, reporting that the first pilot, of an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter, was rescued in broad daylight, in a seven-hour operation over Iran.
After that, the United States and Iran were reportedly in a race to find the second soldier, a weapons systems officer who hid “in the treacherous mountains of Iran,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social network. He stated that the aviator was being “hunted” by enemies who were “getting closer and closer every hour.”
Trump said the soldier managed to escape for almost 48 hours. According to the president, part of the aircraft used in the operation was destroyed by the Americans themselves, after getting stuck in the sand during the mission — a way to prevent sensitive equipment from falling into Iran’s hands.
“We blew these planes to smithereens because there was equipment there that, frankly, we would like to collect, but I didn’t think it was worth spending another four hours doing it,” he said. “We don’t want anyone to have access to our best equipment, the best equipment in the world.”
According to Trump, the aviator was eventually rescued by a helicopter.
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The operation occurred after the crash of an American military aircraft and lasted two days, involving hundreds of special forces members. US planes dropped bombs and attacked Iranian convoys to keep them away from the area where the pilot was hiding, according to a previous report by the New York Times.
Also according to the newspaper, the US also managed to safely rescue the pilot of an A-10 Warthog that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, at approximately the same time the F-15E was shot down.
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