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Shot down over Iran: Inside the daring US rescue of 'Bravo'

On September 14, 2026, Israel National News, the English site of the Israeli network Arutz Sheva, published Shot down over Iran: Inside the daring US rescue of 'Bravo'. It describes newly released footage of the rescue of a US Air Force weapons officer, call sign Bravo, after an F-15E was shot down over southwestern Iran in April 2026. The article says about 92 special-forces commandos landed on Iranian soil and fought there. An American family should care because this is a report of American troops in Iran, under fire, not only a plan on paper. The article presents it as a rescue. It does not present it as an occupation.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Americans on Iranian Soil; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: STRONG. Israel National News and Military Times describe the same April rescue: a downed F-15E, a delayed recovery of the weapons officer, transport planes stuck and then destroyed, and an A-10 lost in Kuwait. Israel National News puts about 92 commandos on two planes; Military Times describes hundreds of special operations personnel supporting the mission.

What the article says​

Israel National News says Bravo was the weapons officer on an F-15E Strike Eagle brought down in the Isfahan area. It says an Iranian missile also damaged his parachute, that he was badly hurt, and that he was alone for two days. The article says he later told CBS's 60 Minutes that he believed he had been spared injuries that would have kept him from surviving. The pilot, call sign Alpha, was rescued in about six hours in daylight, the article says, with 21 aircraft under fire. Bravo's rescue waited another day. The article says classified CIA technology and his personal locator beacon found him.

The article then states the ground fact in two sentences.

As part of the operation, two transport aircraft carrying approximately 92 special forces commandos landed on Iranian soil. It marked the first US ground operation in the country in approximately 46 years.

Israel National News, September 14, 2026.

It says hundreds of troops, jets, and helicopters took part in the wider effort. It says the commandos on the ground fought Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij. The Guard is Iran's ideological armed force, separate from its regular army. The Basij is a volunteer militia tied to the Guard. The article says jets tried to keep Iranian reinforcements away. It says two US helicopters were hit by anti-aircraft fire, an A-10 support plane crashed in Kuwait, and the two transport planes got stuck in sand. The article says three more aircraft then flew in to take the troops and Bravo out. It says American commanders destroyed the two stuck planes from the air so Iran would not get the equipment.

Military Times, in an April 8, 2026 account this page opened, describes the same mission and says it draws on US Central Command, a White House press conference, and defense officials. It dates the shootdown to April 3, 2026, and the second rescue to the night of April 4 to 5. It says that second effort used 155 aircraft and was supported by hundreds of special operations personnel. It says President Donald Trump ordered the rescue. It says two MC-130J transports stuck in wet sand and were blown up on purpose, and that an A-10 crashed in Kuwait after its pilot ejected. It calls the mission the first publicly acknowledged US ground presence inside Iran since Operation Eagle Claw, the failed 1980 attempt to rescue hostages. That gap is about 46 years, which matches the Israeli article's phrasing. Military Times does not use the number 92. It says the Pentagon has not released the crew members' names.

Military Times also prints Iran's denial. Spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said the rescue "was completely foiled." Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that if the United States got three more victories like that one, it would be "utterly ruined." Those are their characterizations, as Military Times reports them, not a finding that the airman was left behind. Military Times reports that both crew members were recovered.

What other reporting adds​

Other write-ups of the same 60 Minutes broadcast. An RT write-up, pasted on X the same day, quotes Cooper: "More than 90 US service members were ultimately deployed on the ground, while several hundred personnel were in the air and several thousand supported the operation," and says he "described them as the first acknowledged US 'boots on the ground' in Iran in 46 years." (as pasted by @rbg4lif on X, 14 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v581.md). Another says the jet, "call sign Dude 44, was hit by an Iranian shoulder-fired missile during a strike mission against drone and missile facilities south of Isfahan," and that "The CIA ran a deception effort and used classified location technology." (@LTSmash420 on X, 14 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t53__v633.md). "More than 90" (RT), "about 90" (Stars and Stripes, per a related page), and "approximately 92" (this article) are close enough to treat as one count, reported three ways.

The Iranian account. A search-page fragment in the captures, author not identified, carried an Iranian claim that Americans killed their own soldiers during the rescue, with a call to share a video "before the White House has it removed." No evidence for that claim appears in the captures (research capture: twitter/t50__v595.md).

What it shows​

Israel National News gave its readers the inside story of American commandos fighting on Iranian soil to bring home "Bravo." The operation used a large air fleet and hundreds of special operations personnel, and it cost aircraft destroyed on the ground. That is a ground operation by any plain meaning, in a war officials said would not need ground troops. See Americans Already on Iranian Soil and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Status: Donald Trump is alive. Ebrahim Zolfaghari is alive. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is alive. The rescued officer is not named on either page opened for this article.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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