Iran and United States have very different accounts of the rescue of the American pilot whose plane had crashed

Donald Trump praised the bold military operation that rescued the American aviator who was missing in Iran after his plane was shot down in the southern part of the country.

The soldier is safe and sound, declared the American president on the 37th day of the war in the Middle East, before later specifying that he is seriously injured. On the other side, Tehran has a completely different interpretation of the events. The Iranian armed forces claimed to have thwarted the American operation.

As the two narratives conflict and new details about the operation are revealed by American media, Le HuffPost provides an overview of what is known about this rescue operation.

• Success According to Washington

The message published by Donald Trump on Truth Social this Sunday was unequivocal. He stated that the American military has carried out one of the most daring search and rescue operations in U.S. history and was able to save the soldier.

On the other side, Tehran did not deny the rescue of the aviator, without endorsing the American version. “The so-called American rescue operation has been completely thwarted,” said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Iranian armed forces command.

According to several American media outlets, the rescued man was an officer in charge of weapon systems on an F-15E fighter-bomber.

• Lost American Aircraft?

Donald Trump mentioned in his message the involvement of dozens of aircraft. According to the BBC, combat search and rescue operations (CSAR) are often carried out by helicopters flying low over enemy territory, while other military flying vehicles conduct patrols and strikes.

On the Iranian side, the command of the armed forces reported American aircraft destroyed, and state media broadcast images of burnt debris scattered in a desert area, still emitting smoke, as you can see in our video at the top of the article. According to Ebrahim Zolfaghari, “two American military transport planes C-130 and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed.” Washington did not immediately respond to these announcements.

The New York Times and CBS reported that two of the aircraft supposed to transport the aviator and rescuers to safety remained stranded on an isolated base in Iran and had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into Iranian hands. The American forces then used three other transport planes, according to anonymous sources.

• The Injured Soldier Successfully Evaded Capture by Iranians

After describing him simply as injured and safe and sound, Donald Trump announced that the American soldier exfiltrated from Iran was seriously injured. According to Axios, citing an American official, the officer, responsible for weapon systems and injured during ejection, was still able to walk and managed to avoid capture in the mountains for over a day. He was equipped with a pistol, a beacon, and a secure communication device to coordinate with the rescuers, as reported by The New York Times.

American aviators are trained to handle these extreme situations through the SERE (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) program, which prepares them to survive in hostile territory with minimal equipment.

The New York Times, citing an anonymous source, reported that the specialized unit of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team 6 was tasked with the challenging exfiltration mission, while American attack aircraft dropped bombs and engaged Iranian convoys from a distance.

According to other media reports, the CIA also allegedly played a role in locating the soldier, including conducting a disinformation operation to mislead Iranian authorities about his whereabouts.

In their communications, the Iranian armed forces command did not detail the form of the American operation. However, they specified that the exfiltration mission took place “at an abandoned airport in southern Isaphan” – information not provided at this stage by either authorities or American media.