US forces carried out strikes on an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) underground headquarters near Tehran while simultaneously conducting a rescue operation for downed airmen, according to US officials, as fighting continued into nightfall in the Middle East.
High-ranking US sources told Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst that during the rescue mission over the weekend, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper ordered a strike targeting the IRGC facility outside the Iranian capital. The operation involved B-2 bombers and massive ordnance penetrators, also known as bunker-buster bombs, similar to those used in Operation Midnight Hammer.
According to the sources, the IRGC headquarters was destroyed in the strike.
The strike took place as US forces were engaged in a complex mission to recover two fighter pilots. One pilot, an F-15 shot down Thursday night, was rescued on Friday. A second rescue operation was completed approximately 48 hours later.
US officials said the CIA confirmed the location and identity of the second airman on Saturday morning, verifying that the situation was not an Iranian trap. The intelligence was then relayed to senior leadership, including the Secretary of War, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and President Donald Trump.
Following that confirmation, President Trump approved the mission, and US forces were deployed inside Iran within 12 hours, according to the report.
Sources said more than 100 US special forces personnel were involved in the operation on the ground, working in coordination with aerial assets as the broader campaign against Iranian targets continued.
