The United States said Sunday it had rescued a serviceman who had been missing behind enemy lines since Iran shot down a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump increased pressure on Tehran by again threatening to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian state television broadcast a video showing what it claims to be debris from an American plane it shot down, along with a picture of thick black smoke rising into the air.
She claimed to have shot down a US transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation.
However, a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told the Associated Press that the U.S. military had blown up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction, forcing it to call in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.
This official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss this secret mission.
Earlier, Trump had written in a social media post that the rescued pilot was injured but "will be fine," adding that the rescue involved "dozens of planes" and that the United States had monitored his position before his rescue.
"This brave warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, hunted by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour," Trump wrote.
The extraction of the airman followed a frantic US search and rescue operation after the crash on Friday of the F-15E Strike Eagle, while Iran had also promised a reward to anyone who handed over an "enemy pilot".
A second crew member had been rescued earlier.
This fighter jet was the first American aircraft to crash on Iranian territory since the start of the war, which is now in its sixth week.
Trump declared last week that the United States had "decimated" Iran and that they would end the war "very quickly".
Two days later, Iran shot down two American military aircraft, demonstrating the ongoing dangers of the bombing campaign and the ability of a weakened Iranian military to continue to retaliate.
The other aircraft shot down was an American A-10 attack aircraft.
Neither the fate of the crew nor the exact location of the crash were immediately known.
