US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would push the journalist who first reported the rescue of an airman in Iran to reveal their source and also warned that they could face jail if they refused.
The US leader had earlier posted about the search-and-rescue mission on social media on Sunday. He said the first pilot had been pulled out after an F-15E Strike Eagle crash in broad daylight, during a seven-hour operation over Iran. Trump added that the aircraft had been brought down by an Iranian “handheld shoulder missile” that was “heat-seeking.” Follow US-Iran war live updates here.
Notably, after a US fighter jet was shot down over Iran on Friday, multiple media organisations reported that one of the two airmen on board had been safely recovered by US rescue teams.
Trump lashes out over “leak”
Trump said the report had put the ongoing effort to recover the second airman at risk, although that airman was later rescued.
“We didn’t talk about the first one for an hour. Then somebody leaked something, which we will hopefully find that leaker. We’re looking very hard to find that leaker,” Trump was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.
“We’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security, give it up or go to jail.'”
The US rescue operation followed the shooting down of an American military aircraft and lasted two days. The mission involved hundreds of special operations personnel. The New York Times also reported that US aircraft carried out strikes on Iranian convoys to stop them from reaching the area where the aviator was hiding.
What we know about the leak
It remains unclear which media outlet or reporter Trump was referring to. His remarks about the ‘leaker’ have, however, sparked discussion on social media.
Many users questioned who may have shared the information, while several posts pointed towards a reporter said to be close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As reported by HT earlier, several people speculated that Amit Segal, a political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, was among the first to report the development, and referred to his Telegram channel.
Segal also “acknowledged” on Telegram that he was the “first” to publish the “leak” on the platform. “As you may recall, this was first published here”, he wrote after posting Trump’s warning regarding the “leaked” details.
However, there is no confirmation that Segal is the source of the leak.
