Iran claims that the story about rescuing the pilot is a deception and that the real goal of the U.S. was to steal uranium.

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States rescued a second crew member of an F-15E that crashed over Iran on Friday, in what he called a "bold" rescue operation.

The Iranian military referred to it as a "deception and escape mission," claiming that the operation was "completely thwarted."

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stated that there are "many questions and ambiguities" surrounding the operation.

"The area where the American pilot was allegedly located in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province is far from the area where they attempted to land or intended to position their forces in central Iran. The possibility that this was a deceptive operation to steal enriched uranium should not be overlooked at all," said Baqaei.

He added that the operation was a "disaster" for the United States.

The Iranian military noted that several American aircraft had to "make emergency landings" in the southern province of Isfahan after being hit during the mission, forcing the U.S. to "heavily bomb the downed aircraft" as a result.