Satellite imagery shows dozens of craters in central Iran after US rescue mission

Recently released satellite images from Airbus revealed dozens of craters lining roads in Iran's central Isfahan province, where the second US crew member of a fighter jet downed over Iran was recovered on Sunday, according to CNN.

The images indicate at least 28 craters spread across multiple roads in Isfahan, roughly 20 kilometers (12 miles) from a remote airstrip where US forces destroyed their own aircraft after it was damaged, the report said on Monday.

These craters appear sequentially along the roadways and measure about 9 meters (nearly 30 feet) in width -- just enough to cut across the roads, suggesting they were struck with careful precision.

The US Central Command said Sunday that American forces successfully recovered two service members from inside Iran after their F-15E fighter jet was shot down during a combat mission on April 2.

Satellite imagery shows circular crater at F-15E crash site in central Iran

Newly released satellite imagery also shows a circular crater in the same area where debris from the US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet was found in central Iran on Friday.

Satellite imagery captured by Airbus on April 5 shows two white vehicles positioned near a crater, with several individuals standing nearby. The crater measures roughly 40 feet in width.

Although the exact cause of the crater remains unknown, it is common for military crash sites to be deliberately bombed to prevent sensitive equipment from being recovered by opposing forces.

The crater visible in the image is situated about 30 kilometers (19 miles) northwest of the location where US forces destroyed multiple aircraft during Sunday’s operation to rescue a second downed airman.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump said a second recovery mission for a missing US service member involved 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighters, and 48 refueling tankers. He previously said that some 200 Special Forces personnel assisted in the retrieval.

Also, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the agency executed a "deception campaign to confuse the Iranians" while using classified assets to find the airmen in a remote mountain crevice.

Trump described the rescue as a high-stakes gamble, saying he authorized it knowing it could have resulted in mass casualties.

Two large aircraft sent to extract the crew reportedly got stuck in wet sand, raising fears they would be unable to take off under the weight of personnel and equipment. To prevent Iran from capturing sensitive US military technology, Trump said the planes were destroyed on the ground.