On April 5, the US Military pulled off the most daring search and rescue operation in American history to recover the airman who went missing in Southwest Iran after Tehran downed an F-15E Strike Eagle, a twin-engine, two-seat interdiction fighter jet.
What followed was Iran’s attempt to downplay the success of the operation. On Sunday, Iran said the US rescue operation had been “foiled.” By Monday, the account had shifted entirely. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the operation may not have been a rescue at all.
“The possibility that this was a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should not be ignored at all,” he said, adding that there were “many questions and uncertainties” surrounding the mission.
“The area where the American pilot was claimed to be present in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is a long way from the area where they attempted to land or wanted to land their forces in central Iran,” Baqaei said. He called the operation “a disaster” for the United States.
Why Tehran’s Uranium Matters
Tehran reportedly holds between 400 and 450 kilograms of enriched uranium, an amount that could contribute to the production of nuclear weapons.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump was considering a ground operation in Iran specifically to extract enriched uranium.
Trump has also encouraged advisers to press Tehran to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war, the report said, citing a source familiar with his thinking.
Trump has indicated to political allies that Iran cannot keep the nuclear material and has discussed seizing it by force if Tehran refuses to hand it over at the negotiating table.
Before the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran in June 2025, the Islamic Republic was believed to hold more than 400 kilograms of 60 per cent highly enriched uranium and nearly 200 kilograms of 20 per cent fissile material, which can be readily converted into 90 per cent weapons-grade uranium.
Much of it is now believed to be buried under the rubble of a mountain facility hit in US bombings, which Trump claimed had “obliterated” Tehran’s nuclear programme.
However, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi has said Iran’s nuclear material is mainly stored at two of the three sites the US attacked: an underground tunnel at the nuclear complex in Isfahan and a cache at Natanz.
How Did The US Pull Off The Rescue Op?
On April 3, an F-15E Strike Eagle, a twin-engine, two-seat interdiction fighter jet, was downed over southwestern Iran. The pilot on board the aircraft was recovered shortly after the jet was hit, but the search for the weapons systems officer stretched across two full days. The rescue mission, carried out in the south of Isfahan province, cost the US close to $500 million.
The operation deployed an array of military assets, including A-10 Thunderbolt II jets, MC-130J Commando II planes, Black Hawk helicopters and MQ-9 Reaper drones, many of which were destroyed during the mission.
C-130 Hercules aircraft and H-60 helicopters carried elite troops into Iranian airspace. An elite ground team was then inserted under cover of darkness, with US forces using bombs and cover fire to keep Iranian troops away from where the injured airman was hiding.
Trump said the airman was injured, but “will be fine.”