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Fox News has received insider information that a strategic operation was carried out by the U.S. Central Command following the downing of an American fighter jet in Iran. During the mission to rescue the airman involved, the commander of CENTCOM launched an assault on a covert Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) base.
While the rescue mission was underway, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper authorized a strike on an IRGC underground headquarters near Tehran. This attack was executed using B2 bombers equipped with Massive Ordnance Penetrators, the same munitions deployed in the previous year’s Operation Midnight Hammer. Sources have confirmed to Fox News that the strike successfully demolished the headquarters.
In a parallel effort to secure the rescue operation, U.S. military B1 bombers, also known as BONES, released a barrage of one hundred 2,000-pound bombs. This action was intended to deter Iranian forces from approaching the rescue zone, as reported by a senior U.S. defense official.
A senior military source conveyed to Fox News that they effectively “delivered the heat” against the IRGC during this operation.
Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of Central Command, was seen addressing the media alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at a joint press conference. This event took place at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, on March 5, 2026.
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 Air Force Base in the U.S. 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 Ordnance Penetrators, 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!”Â
“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.