US operation in Isfahan was failed nuclear infiltration attempt, not pilot rescue, Iran says

ALBAWABA- Iranian state television’s Press TV cited high-level sources claiming that a United States special forces operation in Isfahan last Saturday was not the pilot-rescue mission described by Washington, but a failed attempt to infiltrate one of Iran’s nuclear facilities.

According to the report, the mission followed days of intensive aerial reconnaissance. Planners selected an abandoned dirt-strip airport near the Isfahan nuclear complex as the insertion point for C-130 transport aircraft, believing Iranian forces would be deceived by the stated objective of rescuing a missing pilot. 

Several senior US generals reportedly opposed the plan due to its high risk and were dismissed before the operation, with objections overruled by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump, according to the Iranian sources.

The operation quickly unraveled. The first C-130 carrying dozens of commandos landed slightly off the runway. Minutes later, a second C-130 arrived with specialized vehicles, Little Bird MH-6 helicopters, and support equipment, but was immediately engaged by Iranian forces, forcing an emergency landing. 

Two Black Hawks sent as reinforcement faced the same ambush. Recognizing the unit was trapped, the White House operations center reportedly shifted the objective from infiltration to emergency extraction. US forces were evacuated under fire, abandoning equipment and some intelligence materials, while American fighter jets subsequently destroyed the remaining aircraft and vehicles to prevent capture.

Press TV framed the episode as evidence that the “rescue” narrative promoted by the Trump administration was intended to conceal the mission’s failure. The report comes amid the 39-day Israel-Iran war, recent Israeli strikes on Iranian railway lines and bridges, US attacks on Kharg Island, and Tuesday’s failed UN Security Council resolution on reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Iran continues to use control of the strategic waterway, through which one-fifth of global oil passes, as leverage in seeking an end to hostilities.

President Trump, in comments released immediately after the operation, described it as a “complete success” in which American forces “rescued our people under fire and taught the enemy a lesson.”