India, April 5 -- After the US carried out a daring rescue operation for an airman stuck behind enemy lines after Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet, President Donald Trump followed up with a fresh warning laced with expletives. Iran did not deny that the rescue was a success. Yet, it fired multiple salvos with memes and taunts, plus invoking an American failure from 46 years ago, on social media.

"History repeats itself. Operation Eagle Claw, a historic US military failure in Iran's Tabas Desert. April 24, 1980," posted Iran's embassy in South Africa, one of the most prolific official accounts in the propaganda battle.

The X post had an image referencing the 1980 Desert One disaster. That failure is believed to have given birth to the ...