CIA Director Ratcliffe Details Covert Deception Campaign That Enabled F-15E Weapons Officer Rescue in Iran

CIA Director John Ratcliffe revealed at a White House press conference that a CIA-run deception campaign was critical to the rescue of a U.S. F-15E weapons systems officer downed over western Iran. The CIA deployed human assets and classified surveillance technologies to locate the injured officer hiding in a mountain crevice, while simultaneously leaking false intelligence through multiple channels suggesting a maritime extraction, drawing Iranian forces away from the actual location. Israeli intelligence assisted in confirming the officer's position and ruling out an Iranian trap. Ratcliffe stated that Iran was ultimately humiliated by the operation.