TEHRAN – The Ministry of Cultural Heritage announced that the site where US aircraft were shot down in the Dasht-e Mahyar area has been officially registered on Iran’s National Heritage List of Sacred Defense sites.

The location has been recognized as the site marking the defeat of an operation referred to as the “Epic Wrath” by opposing forces, and is now considered part of Iran’s historical and military heritage.

The downing of these aircraft is linked to an operation that took place on in early April, 2026, in southern Isfahan. 
According to sources, the two US military personnel on board ejected after their jest was hit by Iranian forces, and, while the pilot was rescued the same day, the second crew member - a weapons operator - became separated and remained stranded in a sparsely populated, rugged region.

Following the crash, the US special forces launched a high-stakes raid into Iran to rescue the injured airman. While US aircraft were seen flying low over the area,  Iran offered a bounty of £50,000 ($66,100) to anyone who found him alive.  US President Donald Trump later said the airman's location was monitored "24 hours a day" as he was "being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour".

As US special forces aboard several aircraft made their way towards the stranded officer, strikes were reportedly launched to keep Iranian troops away from the area.

The New York Times reported that the airman communicated information on Iranian positions from his hiding place high on a 7,000ft ridge to aid with those strikes.

The rescue mission involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refuelling tankers, 13 rescue aircraft and more, Trump said.

Two planes tasked with retrieving rescue crews became bogged down in soil and were unable to take off from the remote base in Iran they had used to land, CBS reported.

Iran's military said two US C-130 military transport planes and two Black Hawk helicopters were destroyed during the operation - and that "a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport in southern Isfahan… was completely foiled", but US officials have denied they came under attack.
Iranian state media also said that troops from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had shot down a US drone over Isfahan while it was searching for the missing airman.

AM