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\u00a0The US rescued a\u00a0missing F-15E airman<\/a>\u00a0deep inside Iran with an incredibly complex and daring mission that involved SEAL Team 6, a CIA ruse, a hastily constructed forward air strip in hostile territory, and patrols of friendly aircraft that gave the Air Force colonel cover.<\/p>\n A\u00a0life-or-death race between US and Iranian forces<\/a>\u00a0to find the \u201cseriously injured\u201d weapons officer outside Isfahan over two days culminated in the crew member\u2019s extraction by America\u2019s most elite commandos and a firefight with local militias that were hunting for him,\u00a0according to a report in the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n The unnamed officer hid out in the mountains and managed to climb a 7,000-foot ridge to evade capture while American MQ-9 Reaper drones pounded nearby Iranian forces with missiles if they got close to his position, according to reports.<\/p>\n \u201cHe evaded up a 7k ridge. They\u2019ve been schwackin\u2019 dudes chasing him all day. Was nuts,\u201d a source\u00a0told Toby Harnden<\/a>, the veteran war correspondent and author.<\/p>\n In an effort to confuse the Iranians, who put a $60,000 bounty (more than 10 times the average household income) on the officer\u2019s head, the CIA pulled off a diversion \u2014 planting fake intel that he had already been rescued and was being driven out of Iran, according to the Times.<\/p>\n The operation involved landing multiple transport aircraft inside Iranian territory just south of the city of Isfahan, some 200 miles inside the country.<\/p>\n