US President Donald Trump announced that America “must” respond to Iran’s downing of a US Apache Helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
“Last night, the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump described in a post on Truth Social. “The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump emphasized that both pilots who were in the downed helicopter were safe and uninjured.
Helicopter crashed near coast of Oman, CENTCOM says
The helicopter crashed in the early morning hours on Tuesday while on patrol over the waters near the coast of Oman.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the two pilots were rescued within two hours of the crash and are in stable condition.
In a statement on X/Twitter, CENTCOM said that the cause of the incident is under investigation, but did not at the time place the responsibility for the helicopter crash on Iran.
Iranian FM warns US forces to leave 'as soon as possible'
Later on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that any foreign military personnel in proximity to Iranian territory is "at constant risk" and should leave the area "as soon as possible."
"The Strait of Hormuz is NOT international waters but shared between Iran and Oman, and located thousands of miles away from US shores," Araghchi asserted in a post on X/Twitter. “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 asserted that while Iran "prefers the language of diplomacy," its armed forces remain “on constant alert for any violation of Iran's airspace, land, or waters.”
Reuters contributed to this report.