The United States on Tuesday launched strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said Tehran had shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening doubts over a potential peace deal and further straining a fragile ceasefire.
“I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is,” Trump told ABC News.
Iran’s state media reported that Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz was attacked and that a projectile hit was confirmed in the port city of Sirik on the strait. Sounds of explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, and later in the vicinity of Jask county, near the entrance to the strait, Iranian media reported, citing local sources and residents..
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Following the initial strikes, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on X that the country would “leave no attack or threat unanswered.”
In an earlier post, he did not directly address the helicopter incident, but said foreign forces in the region risked being involved in accidents or crossfire.
“To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave,” he wrote.
Two U.S. pilots involved in the helicopter incident were uninjured, according to Trump. The Apache was brought down by a one-way Iranian attack drone, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Iran’s state media cited a military source as saying that no offensive air military operations have been conducted in the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.
Trump has repeatedly said Iran and the United States are close to an agreement, though there have been few signs of progress since a tenuous ceasefire took effect in early April.
A U.S. Navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew, the U.S. military said, after the U.S. Army attack helicopter went down in waters near Oman’s coast while on patrol at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (2300 GMT on Monday).
The U.S. military’s Central Command gave no reason for the crash. It said the soldiers were rescued after two hours and said they were in stable condition – a more cautious assessment than Trump’s description.
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