A U.S. military officer who ejected from an F-15E fighter jet shot down by Iran and survived more than 24 hours behind enemy lines reportedly transmitted the message "Power be to God" via radio after bailing out. U.S. President Donald Trump said the words "sounded like something a Muslim would say." The U.S. military reportedly suspected the location signal could be an Iranian lure after detecting it.
Trump shared behind-the-scenes details of the rescue operation in an interview with Axios on Monday.
In the interview, Trump said the military had picked up a beeping signal related to the officer's location. However, officials raised the possibility that the officer had been captured by Iran and expressed concern that Iranian forces could be sending a false signal to draw U.S. troops into a trap.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had itself spread disinformation claiming "the U.S. officer has already been rescued and is being transported out of the country by vehicle" in order to confuse Iran.
In particular, there was no way to verify whether the missing officer's radio message was authentic. People who knew the officer explained that he was a devout believer and that such a message would be natural for him, raising the likelihood that he had sent it himself. A Defense Department official told Axios, however, that the officer's exact words were "God is good."
"Early on, the situation was not clear, but we trusted the information and confirmed that he was alive and had not been captured," a Defense Department official told Axios.
Trump said approximately 200 special operations forces personnel took part in the rescue mission. He added that the officer had been hiding in a crevice in the mountains and that the United States was able to locate him using advanced technology.
Trump also claimed that Iranian forces shot down the F-15E using a shoulder-fired missile, calling it a matter of "luck." Trump referred to the Iranian troops as "thousands of savages were hunting him down." He added, "Even civilians were looking for him, and they were offering a bounty for his capture."
Trump said Israel provided some assistance to U.S. forces during the search and rescue, saying, "They were good partners. Great, brave people. We are like a big brother and a little brother." Israeli officials had previously said the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike to prevent Iranian forces from approaching the rescue area.
The F-15E fighter jet was shot down by an Iranian missile on Saturday. The two crew members — a pilot and a weapons systems officer — ejected. The pilot was rescued immediately, but the weapons systems officer's whereabouts remained unknown for some time, prompting an intense search race between U.S. and Iranian forces.