Iran says US airman rescue may have been cover to 'steal uranium'
المصدر: CGTN EN | Source: CGTN ENIran's foreign ministry said on Monday that a US operation to rescue a downed airman may have been a cover to "steal enriched uranium" from the country.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the US recovered a second crew member of an F-15E that went down over Iran on Friday in what he called a "daring" search and rescue operation.
Iran's military has called it "a deception and escape mission," insisting it was "completely foiled."
On Monday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei 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," Baqaei said.
"The possibility that this was a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should not be ignored at all."
He added that the operation was "a disaster" for the United States.
Iran's military said several US aircraft had to "make emergency landings" in southern Isfahan province after being hit during the mission, with the US "forced to heavily bombard the downed aircraft" as a result.
(Cover: Smoke rises from residential areas in eastern and western parts of Tehran following airstrikes carried out by the United States and Israel in Tehran, Iran, on April 6, 2026. /VCG)
ملاحظة تحريرية | Editorial Note: نُشر هذا المقال في الأصل بواسطة CGTN EN. خبر (Khabr) هي منصة إعلامية أردنية مرخّصة تعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي. نضيف قيمة تحريرية من خلال: تحليل ذكي للأخبار، ملخصات تلقائية، رواية صوتية بالذكاء الاصطناعي، ترجمة متعددة اللغات، وتدقيق الحقائق. هدفنا جعل الأخبار أكثر وضوحاً وسهولةً للقارئ العربي.
This article was originally published by CGTN EN. Khabr is a licensed Jordanian AI-powered news platform (Registration #82086). We add editorial value through: AI-powered news analysis, automated summaries, AI audio narration, multi-language translation (Arabic, English, French, Turkish), and AI fact-checking. Our mission is to make news more accessible and understandable for Arabic-speaking audiences worldwide.





