US President Donald Trump has said that 21 military aircraft were deployed on a mission to rescue two F-15 pilots who ejected over Iran and were stranded in the country.

“Our armed forces deployed 21 military aircraft into hostile airspace, many flying at very low altitude, being shot by bullets … and in broad daylight over Iran for seven hours, at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire,” Trump says, flanked by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

He adds that “nobody has the military that we have”, and that personnel took “extraordinary risks” to rescue their fellow service members.

“This first wave of search and rescue forces successfully located the pilot of the F-15, and he was extracted from enemy territory by an HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopter … as our warriors faced gunfire at very close range,” Trump adds.

“Meanwhile, the second crew member, a weapons systems officer, a highly respected colonel, had landed a significant distance away from the pilot,” he further says. “He was injured, quite badly, and stranded in an area teeming with terrorists from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps … as well as Basij militia and local authorities.”