F-15E Pilot's Radio Call for Help, US Military Suspected Iranian Trap

An F-15E fighter jet was shot down by Iran recently, and after the two pilots ejected, one was rescued, and the other was rescued after hiding in Iran for some time.

Donald Trump said that the Iranian military shot down the F-15E fighter jet with shoulder-fired missiles, and "they were just lucky"; about 200 special operations forces soldiers were mobilized for this rescue operation.

Axios reported that, according to Trump, the second pilot, a weapon systems officer, was hiding in a rock crevice in the mountains, and the US military had already located his "electronic signal."

However, a radio message made US officials begin to suspect whether he had fallen into Iranian hands and whether Iran was trying to lure the US military into a trap by "sending false signals."

Trump said that after the weapon systems officer ejected from the fighter jet, he sent a brief but unusual message on the radio, "He said 'Power be to God'."

US defense officials confirmed Trump's statement but said the pilot's original words were "God is good."

Trump bluntly said: "What he said on the radio sounded like a Muslim." However, Trump immediately added that those who knew the pilot explained that he was indeed a devout person, and it was reasonable for him to say such words.

Defense officials also confirmed this statement: "The situation was not clear at first, but we persevered and finally confirmed that he was alive and not captured. Those who knew him said he was very devout."

Trump mentioned that as for the other F-15E pilot, he was quickly rescued by the US military during the day under intense Iranian fire.

US defense officials explained that the first rescue operation on the 3rd of this month was "boldly and quickly completed" during the day, and the second was completed at night after setting up a temporary base in Iran.

The official said that the two pilots were miles apart in Iran, and hundreds of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers were present at the scene.

In addition, Trump mentioned that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) provided "slight" assistance during the US military's search and rescue of the two pilots. According to US defense officials, Israel provided intelligence on the situation on the ground.

Israeli officials said that the Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike to prevent Iranian forces from reaching the incident area. (Compiled by Hung Pei-ying) 1150406