The small farming community of Parzan, near the city of Shahreza in Iran's Isfahan province, had remained largely untouched by the US-Israeli war, now in its second month - until several American planes landed on a dirt runway near their village.
"I was hearing planes and helicopters just after midnight. It sounded like they were circling over the area. Then there were explosions," said Amir, a farmer in his 50s, whose name has been changed for security reasons.
“A neighbor of mine drove to the desert to see what was happening, but he quickly returned after his car was attacked and damaged. That’s when we called the police. For the rest of the night, explosions and heavy gunfire kept us awake.”
Residents of the farming community who witnessed part of the operation said they were still shocked by the event, which they said also claimed human lives.
As the sun set on Monday, municipal workers and Iranian military personnel were cleaning up the site where two U.S. C-130 Hercules military transport planes and at least two helicopters had crashed hours earlier. Their charred remains were strewn across the remote runway, following a complex two-day U.S. operation to rescue two pilots from a downed F-15 fighter jet that Iran said had been shot down two days earlier.
Residents said the runway was usually used for aircraft spraying crops.
"A pickup truck carrying civilians happened to be passing nearby and it was also attacked. Fortunately, everyone managed to get out and survived," said Amir, standing next to the destroyed planes and watching the cleanup operation.
Shortly after midnight on Sunday in Washington, Donald Trump announced that the two American airmen had been rescued in a complex operation involving 155 aircraft, including four bombers, 64 fighter jets, 48 refueling planes and 13 rescue planes.
The United States said the helicopters and C-130 aircraft were destroyed by US forces themselves, after at least one of the aircraft became stuck and could not take off, insisting they had not been under attack.
Meanwhile, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed that Iranian forces had destroyed two C-130 aircraft and two Black Hawk helicopters during the operation.
Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari stated:
“The so-called rescue operation of the US military, planned as a deception and escape mission at an abandoned airport south of Isfahan, under the pretext of rescuing the pilot of a downed plane, was completely neutralized.”
An Iranian military officer, who asked not to be identified, said a friend and colleague of his had been killed during the operation.
"He was on duty that night when residents reported seeing several planes landing. On their way to the area they were attacked and my friend was killed," said the officer, who was near the burned-out planes on Monday afternoon.
"During the operation, Iranian military forces hit one of the C-130 aircraft, which is why it was unable to take off."
On Monday, as cleanup operations continued outside Shahreza, cranes were lifting large chunks of debris to load onto trucks, while workers were clearing smaller fragments scattered across the desert plain, about an hour south of the provincial capital Isfahan.
In Washington, Trump again escalated threats against Iran, warning of destruction if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by a deadline set for Tuesday.
