The rescue had unfolded with near‑perfect precision. Under cover of darkness, U.S. commandos slipped deep into Iran, undetected, scaled a 7,000‑foot ridge and pulled a stranded American weapons specialist to safety, moving him toward a secret rendezvous point before dawn on Sunday.
Then everything stopped.
Two MC-130 aircraft that had ferried some of the roughly 100 special operations forces into rugged terrain south of Tehran suffered a mechanical failure and could not take off, a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Suddenly, elite commandos risked being stuck behind enemy lines.
Their commanders made a high-risk decision, ordering additional aircraft to fly into Iran to extract the group in waves — a decision that left the elite commandos waiting for a couple of tense hours.
