The United States rescued an airman caught behind lines after Iran shot down his F-15 fighter jet, the U.S. government said early on Sunday (5 April), resolving a major crisis for President Donald Trump with the war on Iran in its sixth week.
The airman, who Trump said held the rank of colonel, was the second member of a two-person crew of an F-15 that Iran said on Friday had been brought down by its air defences.
Trump said the crew member was injured but "he will be just fine."
Reuters reported on Friday (3 April) that the first member of the crew had been recovered, triggering a high-profile search for the remaining airman by both Iran and the United States.
"Over the past several hours, the United States Military pulled off one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in U.S. History," according to a statement from Trump posted by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X.
Trump emphasised that it was the first time in memory that two U.S. pilots had been rescued separately, deep in enemy territory. The operation involved dozens of military aircraft and faced fierce resistance from Iranian forces.
Reuters reported on Friday that two Black Hawk helicopters involved in the search effort were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace.
In a separate incident, an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft was hit and crashed over Kuwait, with the pilot ejecting, the officials said. The degree of any injuries among the crew of the aircraft remained unclear.
Still, Trump was triumphant.
"The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies," he said in his statement.
Iranian officials had called on citizens to help locate the remaining American, hoping to gain leverage against Washington in the war Trump and Israel launched on 28 February.
He has threatened to escalate the conflict in the coming days with attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure.
A hostage crisis could have shifted American public perception of a conflict that, according to opinion polls, has already struggled to win popular support.
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