”The ultimate ‘needle in a haystack’”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president “remained a steady leader our country needs” throughout the situation.

The operation concluded on April 4, when U.S. forces successfully located and extracted the stranded airman. Officials said the breakthrough was made possible by intelligence from the CIA, which identified the pilot’s location.

“This was the ultimate ‘needle in a haystack’, but in this case it was a brave American soul inside a mountain crevice, invisible but for [the] CIA’s capabilities,” a senior administration official said.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran. Trump recently warned that if negotiations fail, the U.S. could take aggressive action against Iranian infrastructure, stating:

“We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL… if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran…NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

He later told Fox News: “If they don’t sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up.”

Iran has since pulled back from further negotiations and warned of possible retaliation, with Iran’s parliamentary speaker saying Tehran is preparing “new cards on the battlefield” if fighting with the U.S. resumes. The status of a possible second round of peace talks in Pakistan remains uncertain, with neither side confirming whether discussions will go ahead.

A ceasefire between the two countries is set to expire on Wednesday, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said an extension is “highly unlikely.”