WANA (Apr 30) – The Ministry of Cultural Heritage announced that the site where U.S. and Israeli aircraft were shot down in the Dasht-e Mahyar area has been officially registered on Iran’s National Heritage List of Sacred Defense sites.

 

According to the report, the location has been recognized as the site marking the defeat of an operation referred to as the “Epic Wrath” by opposing forces, and is now considered part of the country’s historical and military heritage.

 

The downing of these aircraft is linked to an operation that reportedly took place on April 5, 2026, in southern Isfahan, Iran, which was previously described by American sources as a “rescue mission for a U.S. pilot.”

 

According to narratives circulated about the April 5, 2026 operation near Isfahan, a joint unit of U.S. special forces is said to have entered an area close to a sensitive facility with external intelligence and logistical support. These claims state that the forces used a temporary airstrip along a desert route—reportedly constructed with the involvement of Mossad in newer accounts—to deploy several C-130 transport aircraft, as well as light and attack helicopters into the area.

 

The same accounts further suggest that additional heavy equipment, including smaller helicopters and support systems, was introduced in later stages. However, during the course of the operation, and following an escalation in hostilities or a response from Iranian forces, part of the equipment was reportedly abandoned on site, and the mission shifted urgently toward evacuation. The exact timeline, level of engagement, and even the final objective of the operation vary across different reports and cannot be independently confirmed.

 

At the same time, alternative narratives—particularly those attributed to Iranian security sources—interpret the operation in a fundamentally different way. In this version, the incident is not described as a rescue mission alone, but rather as part of a broader attempt to infiltrate a sensitive nuclear-related site in the Isfahan region.

 

These reports claim that the establishment of a temporary airstrip near nuclear facilities, the deployment of special forces, and the introduction of heavy equipment were all part of a wider intelligence or offensive plan, allegedly aimed at accessing or targeting infrastructure linked to Iran’s nuclear program.

 

Some Iranian-affiliated sources also view these developments not as an isolated incident, but as part of a larger scenario within the April 5 operation—potentially involving overlapping missions of rescue, intelligence gathering, and reconnaissance of sensitive infrastructure. However, none of these claims have been officially or independently verified and remain within the scope of conflicting and unconfirmed reports.