Iran sagt, US-Flugzeug sei bei Bergungsmission für vermisstes Militärangehöriges zerstört worden

„The Iranian Fars News Agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that two C-130 aircraft and two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed during the mission.

Multiple outlets, including CNN, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, also shared images of destroyed aircraft that Iranian state media released. CNN geolocated the footage to the southern Isfahan province in Iran.

The Hill has reached out to U.S. Central Command (Centcom), which oversees the military’s operations in the region, for comment.

At just past midnight EDT on Sunday, President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that U.S. forces rescued a missing service member from Iran, after his F-15 Strike Eagle fighter jet was shot down over the Middle Eastern country.“

Source: ABOVE

Several important things to remember here:

– Iranian officials read and participate in Western discourse. They’re up to date on everything everyone is saying and take active steps to influence public opinion. All of their social media accounts post with an American audience in mind.

– A state like Iran will do everything to win the war for public opinion. It’s in their regime’s interest to be seen as both innocent as well as strong. This is obviously true for any combatant, but it’s especially important for the weaker state.

– People are eager to share and believe information that paints the Trump administration in a bad light (myself included). Humans are susceptible to misinformation if it confirms their priors.

If you want to know how a state is behaving, don’t read their press releases for foreign audiences, listen to what they say to their own people. It’s much more instructive of how they’re perceiving something.

In this particular case, we have ample evidence Iranian authorities were highly invested in capturing these pilots. Local anchors implored people to pass along information. Public accounts trolled Trump specifically. The narrative that there was an active manhunt between two parties is well documented.

We then need to look at the wreckage itself. Those C130 propeller blades are composite – they shatter if the plane crashes, and all of their images show the blades as melted and warped. That’s consistent with the plane burning in place.

The Iranians would absolutely showcase the body of a dead American if they had it. Instead, they showed off some boxer briefs. That was the best trophy they could take.

Letting two pilots get extracted by your enemy on your own turf is extremely embarrassing. It makes you look weak, and the Iranian government will do everything they can to make themselves seem strong. That’s wartime propaganda. It’s expected.

Just look at the clues you can’t fake.