U.S. strikes Iran after Trump blames Tehran for downing Army helicopter

The U.S. military said on Tuesday that it carried out strikes on Iran following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that U.S. President Donald Trump blamed on the Islamic Republic.

U.S. Central Command said on social media that the strikes would be “a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.” Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane that Iran has effectively closed during the war, before saying that the wave of U.S. attacks in the south has “subsided.”

Trump said earlier in a social media post that Iran had shot down the aircraft while it was on patrol over the strait and declared that the United States “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.” Iran’s top diplomat said foreign military forces near the country’s territory “are at constant risk” and later said after the strikes that Iran “will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”

The downing of the helicopter and the resulting strikes by the U.S. military further strained a two-month cease-fire a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time since the fragile truce took effect. Iranian state television said on Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air-defense units.

Since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive.

Officials have been unable to turn the April cease-fire into a deal to permanently end the conflict, particularly as Israel intensifies and expands its military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.

U.S. helicopter collided with Iranian drone, official says

The Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down after colliding with an Iranian drone, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

It wasn’t clear whether the collision was intentional, and official statements only said that the crash is under investigation. CNN, CBS News and other outlets earlier reported the collision.

In the first known operation of its kind by the U.S. military, a drone boat rescued two aviators at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday, about two hours after their aircraft went down during a patrol off the coast of Oman, U.S. Central Command said.

Trump said that both service members “are safe and uninjured."

The U.S. service members were spotted and picked up by a drone boat that took them to another location on the water, where they were picked up by a helicopter, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command. He initially said that the drone took the two to shore and did not elaborate on the updated timeline.

It was the first known drone rescue at sea by the U.S. military, Hawkins said.

AH-64 Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the U.S. military, as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into a deal. The helicopters have also been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones.

The drone used to perform the rescue was a 24-foot vessel called a Corsair, manufactured by Saronic Technologies, Hawkins said.

The drone was assigned to the Navy’s Task Force 59, established in 2021 as the Navy’s first uncrewed and AI unit that focuses on maritime security in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal.

Soon after Trump made his accusation that Iran shot down the aircraft, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post that the strait is “thousands of miles away from U.S. shores.”

“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, the best solution is for them to leave.”

Trump had insisted an Iran deal was coming

Before he accused Iran of downing the U.S. helicopter, Trump had expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran.

“We have a good chance” of signing a deal in “two or three days,” Trump said late on Monday. But he did not provide any details on why there was reason for new optimism. In the two months since the United States and Iran agreed to an initial cease-fire, Trump has repeatedly predicted that a deal is near.

“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” the president said.

Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line. However, both Iran and the United States have taken hard-line positions.

The United States wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be entombed in the aftermath of U.S. airstrikes that happened during the 12-day war in 2025. But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.

Before Trump’s comments on negotiations, Qalibaf said on Monday that Trump’s remarks so far on a possible deal “contradicted the agreed-upon sections,” showing that the United States is “neither seeking a cease-fire nor dialogue.”

The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is still a top Iranian priority as well. Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday. There, he met Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been a key figure in the Iran-U.S. talks.

Haykal’s visit comes as Lebanon’s government takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia. Hezbollah thanked Iran on Tuesday for attacking Israel “in defense of [the] Lebanese people,” suggesting that Lebanon’s government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran.

Israel issues a warning for Tyre, Lebanon

Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon’s southern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which has so far been spared from airstrikes on the city.

Last week, Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that it believed Hezbollah members were among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks.

After last week’s warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area. But Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X on Monday that the Israeli military “will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighborhood soon.”

AP