JERUSALEM (VINnews) Senior US military officials ordered a strike on an underground Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facility near Tehran during efforts to rescue American airmen whose aircraft was downed in Iran, according to a Fox News report citing high-level sources.

The report stated that during the rescue mission, US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Adm. Brad Cooper authorized the attack on the underground headquarters. The strike was carried out by B-2 bombers using GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, weapons which are designed to destroy fortified targets.

According to the sources cited by the report, the targeted IRGC site was destroyed in the strike, and numerous senior IRGC members were eliminated.

During the course of the rescue operation, US military B-1 bombers dropped approximately one hundred 2,000-pound bombs in the area to deter Iranian forces from approaching the rescue zone, a senior US defense official said.

A senior military source described the action to Fox News by stating that US forces had applied significant force against the IRGC during the operation. The Iranian media sources reported that four IRGC officers had been killed during the operation to save the US pilot.

The Fox News report further indicated that the strike on the IRGC facility occurred between the two rescue efforts of the pilots. The B-2 bombers reportedly flew from Whiteman Air Force Base in the US after receiving time-sensitive intelligence indicating the presence of multiple IRGC commanders inside the underground site.