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High-level sources have informed Fox News that during rescue efforts in Iran after a U.S. fighter jet was shot down, the commander of U.S. Central Command directed an attack against an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters in an underground facility.
While the airman rescue was going on, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper directed a strike on an IRGC headquarters in an underground facility near Tehran — it was done with B2 bombers, using massive ordinance penetrators, the same weapon used last year in Operation Midnight Hammer, according to the sources. Fox News is told the headquarters was obliterated.
The US military B1 bombers (BONES) dropped 100 of their 2,000-pound bombs during the rescue operations to keep Iranians away from the rescue area during the operation, according to a senior U.S. defense official.
A senior military source told Fox News, “we delivered the heat” on the IRGC.
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Admiral Charles Bradford “Brad” Cooper II, Commander of US Central Command speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, at US Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on March 5, 2026. (Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
CENTCOM noted in a press release that U.S. forces had rescued two service members after their F-15E was downed.
Fox News was told that the operation took place between the two rescues: Cooper ordered the B2s to fly round trip from Whiteman AFB in the US because they received time-sensitive intelligence about the location of a large number of IRGC commanders inside this underground bunker in Tehran, and the Massive Ordinance Penetrator bunker buster bombs were dropped by the B2 warplanes.
Wreckage is seen from what Iranian authorities say is a U.S. military helicopter that crashed during a mission to rescue the missing American pilot of an F-15E that was downed, in a handout image provided on April 5, 2026 in an unspecified location in Iran. (Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance/Handout via Getty Images)
Following the rescues, President Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post, “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. This type of raid is seldom attempted because of the danger to ‘man and equipment.’ It just doesn’t happen!”
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“The second raid came after the first one, where we rescued the pilot in broad daylight, also unusual, spending seven hours over Iran. An AMAZING show of bravery and talent by all!” he said.
