Iran accuses US of using airman rescue as cover to 'steal enriched uranium'

Iran on Monday said that a recent US operation to rescue a downed airman could have been a cover to "steal enriched uranium" from the Islamic Republic.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump announced that US forces had recovered a second crew member of an F-15E fighter jet that went down over Iran on Friday, describing it as a "daring" search and rescue operation.

Iranian military dismissed the mission as "a deception and escape mission," insisting it was "completely foiled. " Speaking on Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said there were "many questions and uncertainties" about the operation.

"The area where the American pilot was claimed to be present in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is a long way from the area where they attempted to land or wanted to land their forces in central Iran," Middle East Eye quoted Baghaei as saying.

He added, "The possibility that this was a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should not be ignored at all," describing the operation as "a disaster" for the United States.

Trump announced early Sunday that US military forces successfully rescued a seriously wounded Air Force colonel, the weapons systems officer from a downed F-15E Strike Eagle jet, from challenging mountain terrain deep inside Iran.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “We have rescued the seriously wounded, and really brave, F-15 Crew Member/Officer, from deep inside the mountains of Iran. The Iranian Military was looking hard, in big numbers, and getting close.

He is a highly respected Colonel.