Iran claims failed Isfahan operation
Report says U.S. Israeli mission faced heavy losses
According to a report by Press TV a coalition operation by US and Israeli forces in central Isfahan ended in what Iranian state-linked media described as a major strategic defeat, with Tehran claiming extensive losses of aircraft and a botched attempt to infiltrate a nuclear facility.
According to the report, initial aerial reconnaissance and subsequent landing attempts at an abandoned airstrip near an Isfahan nuclear site were met by prepared Iranian forces, leading to heavy damage to coalition aircraft, including at least one A-10 and multiple helicopters, and a rapid, improvised extraction of special forces. The account says one C-130 carrying commandos landed off-runway, a second C-130 was forced into an emergency landing after being targeted, and some deployed helicopters were destroyed on the ground or inside transport aircraft.
Iranian sources quoted in the report say the operation, allegedly ordered from a White House meeting, was reframed by US officials from an offensive strike to a hurried rescue mission when commandos came under fire. Coalition jets are reported to have shelled and bombed abandoned equipment to deny its capture. The report also claims personnel left behind gear and identification while evacuating.
