Video: Iran claims US rescue was deception, brags of destroying US aircraft
Iran Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari
Abdullateef Fowewe
Iran’s armed forces have declared a major victory over a United States military operation near Isfahan, labeling it a “deception and hasty escape” disguised as a pilot rescue.
Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Iranian Army asserted that Iranian forces “completely foiled” the mission at an abandoned airfield south of Isfahan after receiving prior intelligence.
He claimed experts later confirmed the destruction of “two C-130 military transport aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters” used by the U.S., attributing it to “the fiery wrath of the Islamic forces in the powerful armed forces.”
“So-called rescue op was planned as deception and escape op under pretext of rescuing pilot,” Zolfaghari said, adding that U.S. President Trump is now “hastily and deceitfully trying to escape the defeat through psychological warfare” and “continues his ravings and scapegoating.”
Zolfaghari further mocked the U.S. military as “weak and bankrupt,” insisting it has been “proven to all that it is not considered the dominant and superior force in this imposed war against the divine will of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The claims stem from Iran’s downing of a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle, which prompted the alleged rescue attempt. U.S. officials counter that the airman was successfully extracted with no fatalities, and two immobilised C-130s were deliberately destroyed by American forces to prevent capture—directly contradicting Tehran’s narrative of a total rout.
