He may have gone public to extol the US military operation, without losses, but his narrative is different.
According to an official announcement by the unified command of the Iranian armed forces, the American rescue attempt ended in disaster. The Iranians claim to have shot down three military aircraft that infiltrated the Isfahan area, two Black Hawk helicopters and a C-130 transport aircraft.
“Enemy aircraft have been hit and are engulfed in flames,” Tehran said, broadcasting images of smoking wreckage in a deserted location on state media.
At the same time, the Tasnim news agency reported that five people died during the airstrikes in southwestern Iran, without specifying whether they were soldiers or civilians.
First video of the destroyed Black Hawk helicopters and C-130 military transport aircraft in Iran’s Isfahan
— Mehr News Agency (@MehrnewsCom)
“Safe and sound”
A little earlier President Donald Trump had painted a completely different picture, excitedly announcing the successful recovery of the F-15’s weapons systems officer.
The US president insisted that the officer is “safe and sound” and that the operation, although it involved heavy fighting, was completed without any American casualties.
“The fact that we were able to carry out both of these operations without a single American being killed or even injured proves once again that we have achieved overwhelming Air Supremacy and Supremacy in the Iranian airwaves,” he said, among other things.
