WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): US President Donald Trump has threatened to take out the “entire country” of Iran in one night, saying that it might be Tuesday night.
“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said during a news conference at the White House on Monday.
He had given tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET as the deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for oil, or suffer the widespread destruction of its infrastructure.
He termed the rescue missions for the two U.S. service members in the F-15 fighter jet that was shot down in Iran very historic.
“We’re here today to celebrate the success of one of the largest, most complex, most harrowing combat searches … I guess you would call it a search and rescue mission, ever attempted by the military,” Trump says.
US President Donald Trump has said that 21 military aircraft were deployed on a mission to rescue two F-15 pilots who ejected over Iran and were stranded in the country.
’21 aircraft used in rescue mission’
US President Trump has said that 21 military aircraft were deployed on a mission to rescue two F-15 pilots who ejected over Iran and were stranded in the country.
“Our armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace, many flying at very low altitude, being shot by bullets … and in broad daylight over Iran for seven hours, at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire,” Trump says, flanked by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
He adds that “nobody has the military that we have”, and that personnel took “extraordinary risks” to rescue their fellow service members.
“This first wave of search and rescue forces successfully located the pilot of the F-15, and he was extracted from enemy territory by an HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopter … as our warriors faced gunfire at very close range,” Trump adds.
“Meanwhile, the second crew member, a weapons systems officer, a highly respected colonel, had landed a significant distance away from the pilot,” he further says. “He was injured, quite badly, and stranded in an area teeming with terrorists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps … as well as Basij militia and local authorities.”
Trump said that the second rescue mission in Iran involved 155 US aircraft that included 4 bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 refuelling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft.
He adds that normally, sending 200 personnel to rescue one service member is something “usually not attempted”, adding that rescuing two personnel “might not have been attempted before.
“We were helped by a lot of people … and it was an honour to be involved in it,” Trump says of the rescue operation.
