President Donald Trump said Monday that US forces struck an underground Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) headquarters near Tehran even as American troops were racing to rescue two downed F-15 crew members in Iran, casting the operation as a historic display of military skill, intelligence coordination and national resolve.
Speaking at a press conference alongside CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Kane, President Trump said the mission began after an American F-15 went down late Thursday night deep inside Iranian territory during Operation Epic Fury. Both crew members ejected alive, prompting what he described as one of the largest and most dangerous combat search-and-rescue efforts ever attempted.
“I ordered the US Armed Forces to do whatever was necessary to bring our brave warriors back home,” President Trump said. “A risky decision, because we could have ended up with 100 dead, as opposed to one or two. It’s a hard decision to make. But in the United States military, we leave no American behind.”
The president added that not everyone supported the rescue. Some military officials, he said, argued against sending hundreds of personnel into the heart of hostile territory. He said he understood those concerns but believed the mission could be done.
“There were military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it,” President Trump said. “I understood that, but I decided to do it.”
He said the first crew member, the pilot, was recovered Friday after US aircraft and rescue forces flew for seven hours in daylight over Iran. The second crew member, a weapons systems officer whom the president described as “a highly respected colonel,” landed miles away, was badly injured and evaded capture for nearly 48 hours in mountainous terrain.
Trump said the officer treated his own wounds, climbed to higher ground and used a locator device to transmit his position. He added that the officer also provided valuable real-time information while US forces were striking Iranian positions and tracking enemy movements.
Ratcliffe said the CIA used both human sources and advanced technology to locate the missing officer and also ran a deception campaign to mislead Iranian forces searching for him. “This was a no-fail mission,” Ratcliffe said. “On Saturday morning, we achieved our primary objective by finding and providing confirmation that one of America’s best and bravest was alive and concealed in a mountain crevice.”
Hegseth characterized the rescue missions as showing “why we possess the greatest fighting force the world has ever known,” adding that the US military was carrying out strikes even as the extraction unfolded. Gen. Kane provided more operational detail, saying aircraft including A-10s, rescue helicopters, tankers and special warfare teams fought their way in while other US assets suppressed Iranian forces nearby.
“While this was ongoing,” Kane explained, US aircraft and drones were “violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight” to keep them away from the downed airman. President Trump, meanwhile, said CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper directed a strike on an IRGC underground headquarters outside Tehran during the rescue effort and that “the headquarters of the IRGC was obliterated.”
The president also lashed out at those who disclosed that one crew member was still missing after the first rescue, saying the leak endangered the stranded officer and the Americans trying to recover him. “We have to find that leaker, because that’s a sick person,” he said. “They put that man at great risk.”
The president paired praise for the rescue with a fresh ultimatum to Tehran, saying Iran had until 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday to make an acceptable deal. He said the US had already destroyed major Iranian capabilities and warned that if Tehran again rejected terms, Washington could escalate dramatically.
Recalling a previous operation when negotiations nearly collapsed, president Trump said he ordered the destruction of a major Iranian bridge within minutes. If Iran rejects the current deal, he warned, “they’re going to have no bridges. They’re going to have no power plants.” He added that rebuilding could take “100 years.”
President Trump concluded the rescue mission remained the central point of the day. “This is a rescue that’s very historic,” he said. “It’ll go down in the books.”
