A day after US President Donald Trump announced that forces had been successful in rescuing the downed airman, Iran’s Foreign Ministry claimed on Monday (local time) that the US operation may have been a cover to “steal enriched uranium” from the country.
According to an Al Jazeera report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said there were “many questions and uncertainties” about the operation.
“The area where the American pilot was allegedly present in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is far from the area where they tried to land or wanted to land their forces in central Iran,” he added. He continued that the possibility that this rescue could be a fraudulent operation to steal enriched uranium must not be ignored.
There was speculation about an American rescue operation
Similar speculation flooded social media following the Iranian ministry’s claim.
In a post on X, the user called the operation a fake cover story. Elaborating further, the user wrote: “The primary supply is located in Isfahan, exactly where the pilot was ‘lost.'” This explains why the US bombed the area heavily during the “search” and why the C-130s were destroyed without loss of life. C-130s were hit on the ground while special forces attempted to secure the material.
Another user wrote: “The whole story about the extraction of the second flight is weird. The fact that it was picked up at an ad hoc US air base set up within 20 miles of the Isfanan site where 450 kg of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is stored is weird. There are many layers of subterfuge, but at least it’s a useful (as far as accidental uranium extraction?) last IRGC card that the US and Israel really care about.”
Similar suggestions were also made by an IPR lawyer and a geopolitical analyst. He wrote: “The site of the crash was not accidental. Isfahan is not just another Iranian city; it is a strategic node within the network of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.”
US rescues F-15E crew members, Trump says
On 5 April, Trump claimed that the US had recovered the second crew member of an F-15E that crashed over Iran on 3 April in what he called a “courageous” search and rescue operation.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “WE’VE GOT HIM! My fellow Americans, in the last few hours the United States military has conducted one of the most daring search and rescue operations in US history for one of our incredible crew members who also happens to be a highly respected colonel and who I am thrilled to report is now SAFE and the SOUND OF WAR behind this brave enemy was a war SOUND! Pursued by our enemies.”
Trump shared an update on his health, noting that he suffered an injury but will be fine. He added that the rescue operation was in addition to the successful rescue of another pilot on April 4.
US-Iran War
The accusations against the US come as Trump issued a warning to Tehran and set a deadline for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Amid the continued escalation, the ceasefire proposal was rejected by the Islamic Republic, which called Washington’s plan “illogical”.
