Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said the US operation to rescue a downed airman may have been a cover to “steal enriched uranium” from the country, Al Jazeera reports.

Baqaei said there were “many questions and uncertainties” about the operation.

“The area where the American pilot was claimed to be present in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is a long way from the area where they attempted to land or wanted to land their forces in central Iran,” Baqaei said.

“The possibility that this was a deception operation to steal enriched uranium should not be ignored at all.”