Iran claims it shot down US C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during US pilot rescue mission

A C-130 military transport plane as well as two Black Hawk helicopters were among several U.S. aircraft reportedly destroyed during a mission to locate a stranded airman in Iran, according to claims made by the country’s Revolutionary Guards on Sunday, as cited by Tasnim news agency.

The Guards said the aircraft were taken down as part of a coordinated military response. “During a joint operation (Aerospace, Ground Force, Popular Units, Basij and Police command), enemy aircraft were destroyed,” the group stated, following an earlier announcement by Iran’s police command that an American C-130 plane had been downed in the southern region of Isfahan.



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Further details were provided by the spokesperson of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified command overseeing Iran’s armed forces. According to the spokesperson, the aircraft brought down included a C-130 military transport plane as well as two Black Hawk helicopters.

In a separate development earlier the same day, Iran’s army said it had also shot down an Israeli drone in the same province, signalling a broader escalation in aerial confrontations in the region.