INTERNACIONAL
Mauro compares Iran rescue of missing colonel to Maduro capture, credits intelligence preparation
CIA deception operation rescues missing US airman in Iran
Paul Mauro, Fox News contributor, explains the intricate Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deception operation that rescued a U.S. airman missing for over 36 hours in Iran. The CIA used fabricated information to mislead Iranian searchers while precisely locating and extracting the airman. Mauro emphasizes the crucial role of human intelligence (HUMINT) and synchronized efforts, underscoring that intelligence, despite technological advances, fundamentally relies on people.
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U.S. intelligence agencies had already done the groundwork needed to locate a missing colonel inside Iran, Paul Mauro said Monday, arguing the operation relied on intelligence gathered well before the mission began.
«You’ve got to collect, you collect, you collect and a lot of it sometimes you’re never going to use,» Mauro told «Fox & Friends.»
«The key is when you need it, it has to be there.»
Mauro pointed to the Maduro case, which unfolded at the behest of the Trump administration in January, noting U.S. forces’ ability to pinpoint where the Venezuelan dictator and his wife were going to be at the time in order to make an effective capture.
RESCUE EXPERT SAYS MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT COMES AFTER ‘JACKPOT’ CALL IN RECOVERY BEHIND ENEMY LINES
War Secretary Pete Hegseth shakes the hand of a American airman on a covert CENTCOM visit with troops in ‘theater.’ (War Secretary/X)
«They got him as they were running to a safe room without a scratch. Everybody comes out without a scratch,» he said.
«They got them as they were fleeing. That’s how detailed the messaging was, and that’s how synchronized the operation was.»
Mauro said that same level of preparation and coordination was on display in the Iran mission, where U.S. forces rescued a missing U.S. weapons systems officer from a downed F-15E following a multi-day search inside enemy territory.
TRUMP CALLS RESCUE OF DOWNED AIR FORCE PILOT AN ‘EASTER MIRACLE’
Artificial intelligence is a big factor in the Iran war and Iran realizes it. (iStock)
U.S. intelligence was able to act quickly to retrieve the missing colonel once his location was confirmed.
«[This] was one of those situations where the bell rang. ‘Guys, what [have] you got?’ President turns around, [War Secretary] Hegseth turns around, [and] they all talk to Ratcliffe and they say, ‘What [have] you got, director?’ and fortunately it was there.»
Mauro said the operation highlights a broader fact about intelligence work that is apparent to those working within its community: its success comes down to the people running the sources.
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«At the end of the day… it comes down to people,» he said.
«If you think that you can sit in a cubicle someplace and get everything you need to be done, that’s not how it’s going to go. You need people in country, in dangerous areas, Americans working on our behalf that you’ll never hear about… they’re running the sources so that, again, when you need it, they say, ‘My source is good.’«
fox news media, national security, cia, pentagon, war with iran
INTERNACIONAL
Dura amenaza de Donald Trump: “Todo Irán podría ser eliminado en una noche y podría ser la de mañana”
INTERNACIONAL
CENTCOM commander directed strike against an IRGC headquarters in underground facility: sources
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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 underground Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters.
While the airman rescue was going on, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper directed a strike on an IRGC headquarters in an underground facility near Tehran — it was done with B2 bombers, using Massive Ordnance Penetrators, the same weapon used last year in Operation Midnight Hammer, according to the sources. Fox News is told the headquarters was obliterated.
U.S. military B1 bombers (BONES) dropped a hundred 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.
RESCUE EXPERT SAYS MOST DANGEROUS MOMENT COMES AFTER ‘JACKPOT’ CALL IN RECOVERY BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Adm. Brad» Cooper, commander of Central Command, speaks during a joint press conference with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at 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 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.
AIRMAN RESCUE SHOWS US CAN PENETRATE ENEMY TERRITORY ‘ANYWHERE’ IN IRAN, FORMER PENTAGON OFFICIAL WARNS
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!»
RETIRED F-16 PILOT SAYS RESCUED US AIRMAN’S SURVIVAL IN IRAN HIGHLIGHTS INTENSE EVASION TRAINING
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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.
war with iran, iran, donald trump, military, world
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President Donald Trump touted the «historic» rescue of the downed F-15E airmen behind enemy lines and issued a warning to Iran to make a deal before Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET deadline or face being «taken out.»
«This is a rescue that’s very historic,» Trump told the White House press corps in a Monday news conference. «It’ll go down to the books.»
«Late Thursday night, an American F-15 fighter jet went down deep inside enemy territory in Iran while participating in Operation Epic Fury, where we’re doing unbelievably well. Well, at a level that nobody’s ever seen before.»
Trump quickly paused his hailing of the rescue to add a warning for Iran to come to peace.
TRUMP REVEALS IRAN MADE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ AFTER ULTIMATUM, BUT ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’
President Donald Trump describes the ‘historic’ mission to rescue two stranded airmen behind enemy lines. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
«The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,» Trump said.
Trump continued to press Iran to come to a peace deal, hours after saying the offers thus far are «not enough,» and War Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed the heaviest bombing of Iran to date.
TRUMP SAYS IRAN ‘NO LONGER A THREAT’ AFTER 32 DAYS — OUTLINES NEXT PHASE OF US WAR
«By the way, per the president’s direction, [Monday] will be the largest volume of strikes since day one of this operation,» Hegseth vowed, taking the mic just before Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan «Raizin’» Caine.
«Tomorrow, even more than today. And then Iran has a choice,» Hegseth added. «Choose wisely, because this president does not play around. You can ask Soleimani, you can ask Maduro. You can ask Khamenei.»
Trump, responding to a question from Fox News, noted there were military leaders warning against the dangerous exfiltration of the two airmen, citing the risks to a multitude of troops.
«There were military people, very professional, that preferred not doing it: These two were totally on board, which was very important,» Trump said, noting Hegseth and Gen. Caine.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran to ‘choose wisely’ as President Donald Trump has ordered the two heaviest days of bombings on the regime. (Kent Nishimura / AFP)
IDF CONFIRMS IRGC INTEL CHIEF KILLED; QUDS FORCE COMMANDER ALSO ELIMINATED IN STRIKE
«But, no, there were military people that said, ‘You just don’t do this; you don’t go into the heart of a very powerful military.»
Trump noted that «half the people are wearing uniforms» in Iran, exacerbating the challenges of extracting the American airmen.
«I was surprised somebody said it’s the only time it’s ever been done,» Trump continued. «I said, that’s not possible, but it is possible because you’re going into hundreds of thousands of soldiers along the path. I mean, look at some of the helicopters, how they got hit.»
Trump, in a moment that went from serious to lighter, asked Caine «how many» people conducted the rescue.
INSIDE THE DARING RESCUE OF AIRMAN BEHIND ENEMY LINES: HOW CIA ASSISTED WITH ‘DECEPTION CAMPAIGN’
«I’d love to keep that a secret,» Caine shot back.
«I’ll keep it a secret, but it was hundreds and hundreds of these people,» Trump said.
«Hundreds of people went into this journey. Hundreds of people could have been killed. Forget about the equipment. A lot of equipment. Nobody cares of it. Hundreds of people could have been killed,» Trump added.
«So we had people that were within the military that said, ‘This is not a wise move,’» Trump said.
«And I understood that, but I decided to do it.»
Gen. Dan Caine (right) said he wanted to keep some details of the historic rescue secret to preserve future missions as President Donald Trump (left) and War Secretary Pete Hegseth (center) vowed the two heaviest days of bombing to come in Iran. (Andrew Harnik)
US ‘OBLITERATED’ IRGC HEADQUARTERS WITH BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS DURING RESCUE
For now, Tuesday night’s 8 p.m. ET deadline looms for Iran to make a deal to Trump’s satisfaction.
«I can’t talk about ceasefire, but I can tell you that we have an active, willing participant on the other side,» Trump said, acknowledging Iran has been «excellent negotiators» because they have been able to delay peace for decades. «They would like to be able to make a deal. I can’t say any more than that.»
«I can tell you they’re negotiating, we think, in good faith,» Trump said. «We’re going to find out. We’re getting the help of some incredible countries that want this to be ended, because it affects them.
HEGSETH REVEALS COVERT VISIT TO TROOPS FIGHTING IN OPERATION EPIC FURY
The «plan,» short of an imminent peace deal, Trump expounded, would be devastating for a country that would require a century to rebuild.
«We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again,» Trump vowed. «I mean, complete demolition by 12, and it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to. «We don’t want that to happen.»
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«So do I want to do that? No. Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No,» Trump concluded. «It will take them 100 years to rebuild. Right now, if we left today, it would take them 20 years to rebuild their country. And it would never be as good as it was. And the only way they’re going to be able to rebuild their country is to utilize the genius of the United States of America.»
heroism, donald trump, us air force, war with iran, iran
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