Details: US had to leave and bomb its own planes

TT

Published 10.34

            

           The picture distributed by Sepah News, a news agency belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard,                 allegedly shows the destroyed planes and helicopters at the site of the rescue operation.Photo: AP/             TT

The US left behind and destroyed planes and helicopters during a rescue operation in Iran, according to security sources in several American media.

The high-profile operation - in which a downed American pilot was rescued after hiding in Iran for more than a day - became unexpectedly complicated.

Two US MC-130 transport planes got stuck in the sandy mountainous terrain of the Isfahan region, a source with insight tells The New York Times. The plane was supposed to take the pilot and the special forces to an airfield in Kuwait, but could not take off.

Attempts to unload the planes failed, and a decision was made by the Pentagon headquarters to deploy three replacement planes, the newspaper writes.

With the risk that Iran would gain access to US military equipment and highly sensitive information, the remaining transport planes and two military helicopters were completely destroyed by US fighter jets, the AP news agency writes.

It was on Good Friday that an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down. Two fighter pilots ejected from the plane, but one of them could not be located at first. A risky rescue operation was launched to find the American on Iranian soil before the Iranian authorities did.