Published On 6 Apr 20266 Apr 2026United States President Donald Trump has announced that the US military has rescued a missing American fighter jet crew member in Iran.The Air Force officer went missing in a remote part of Iran after the downing of his F-15 jet on Friday. Its two crew members ejected from the plane. The pilot was quickly rescued by US forces, but a search had to be launched for the F-15’s weapons systems officer.In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote that the US had rescued the second “seriously wounded, and really brave” airman from “deep inside the mountains of Iran”. It was reported that a firefight between US and Iranian forces took place in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province before the rescue. Iran has not confirmed this, however.Here is how the complicated rescue mission unfolded:What has Trump said about the rescue?While the identity of the rescued airman has not been made public, Trump referred to him as “a highly respected Colonel”.He added that the type of rescue mission that recovered him “is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment’”.Trump said two raids had taken place, and the pilot was rescued in “broad daylight” during the second raid. It is unclear when precisely the pilot was rescued. The US president wrote that the rescue was “unusual, spending seven hours over Iran”.In his post, Trump said he would talk more about the rescue mission during a news conference with the US military in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday at 1pm (17:00 GMT). Advertisement Tr …
