U.S. launches new attacks on Iran in response to downing of helicopter, CENTCOM says
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that new attacks had been launched against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.
“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” CENTCOM wrote in a post on X.
Earlier, President Donald Trump said that Iran had shot down an American military helicopter while it was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz and noted that the United States would “respond to this attack.”
“The Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” the president said on Truth Social, adding that he had been briefed by the military on the situation.
“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured,” Trump said. “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Separately, a U.S. official said current indications were that the Apache was brough down by an Iranian drone.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a post on X Tuesday that U.S. forces are putting themselves at risk by being in the region but did not mention any Iranian role in the downing of the helicopter.
“Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire,” Araghchi wrote. “To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave. We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too.”
Earlier, U.S. Central Command said the two crew members were rescued by an unmanned boat — a first for American forces — after the aircraft went down off the coast of Oman.
A Task Force 59 unmanned surface vessel, essentially a drone boat, found and rescued the soldiers, spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told NBC News before Trump posted his comment. Both soldiers were receiving medical care, he said, adding: “The task force began fielding these drones in theater in late March.”
In a separate statement on X, CENTCOM had said the soldiers had been rescued within around two hours of the incident and were in stable condition. It said their U.S. Army AH-64 Apache was patrolling regional waters and that the cause of the incident was under investigation.
A U.S. official said that their injuries were not serious or believed to be life-threatening but that both required medical attention. The official spoke before Trump posted to Truth Social.
Trump told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he didn’t consider troops in the region to be in danger.
“We have the best offense anyone’s ever seen. So I don’t consider it danger,” Trump said in the interview, adding he didn’t think he’d be sending troops back to the U.S. because they may still be needed. “But I think we’ll keep them there until such time as we have a completion.”
The incident was first reported by The New York Times, which said the helicopter had gone down over the Strait of Hormuz. Oman borders the strait.
Iranian media appeared to acknowledge the incident, with the semi-official Mehr News Agency reporting Tuesday that no claim of responsibility had been made by Iran. The Revolutionary Guard was yet to issue a statement.
Trump’s comments came after Iran and Israel exchanged their first direct attacks since the April truce, threatening a return to all-out war in the Middle East.
The two adversaries later stepped away from the clash, with the price of oil falling and markets recovering amid the pause in fighting.
Iran has maintained a stranglehold on the strait, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally crosses, since the U.S. and Israel launched the war.
Trump has vowed to restore traffic through the vital shipping lane as part of a deal to end the war.
Speaking earlier Tuesday about a potential deal with Iran, Trump told reporters, “We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape or form nuclear weapons.”
“The strait will open up right away. It’ll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days,” he said, though he said that the deal could even be done “in one hour, if you want to know the truth.”
Asked about the biggest sticking point in negotiations, Trump said he didn’t “think there are any sticking points.”
“I think we’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said, adding that an agreement would be preferable to and “actually stronger than doing the bombing.
Trump has repeatedly suggested the two sides are close to a deal in the weeks since they agreed to a ceasefire, but so far no agreement has materialized.
Lauren Zola and Bella LoBue contributed.
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