WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran had shot down a US Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to respond, deepening doubts about prospects for peace between the two countries. Trump stated that the two US pilots involved in the incident were uninjured.
Trump's Response and Iran's Denial
"Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack," Trump said on social media. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi did not directly address the incident but remarked that foreign forces in the region risked being involved in accidents or crossfire. "To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave," he said on social media.
The episode adds further strain to efforts to broker a peace deal to end the wider Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for petroleum and other commodities. 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.
Rescue Operation and Military Assessment
A US Navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew members, according to the US military, after the US 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 US military's Central Command gave no reason for the crash. It said the soldiers were rescued after two hours and were in stable condition, a more cautious assessment than Trump's description.
Parallel Conflicts in Lebanon and Israel
In a parallel conflict, Israel struck the historic port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, killing at least eight people. It was the deadliest strike on the city since fighting erupted in Lebanon in early March, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel. A video verified by Reuters showed debris strewn across a road at the site of the attack.
Israel's refusal to end its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah has hindered Trump's efforts to extend a tenuous ceasefire in the wider US-Israeli war with Iran into a durable settlement. Iran and Israel exchanged airstrikes earlier this week, killing two people in Tehran. Trump told Axios on Monday he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to return to war with Iran: "I said, 'Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon.'"
Iran's Conditions and Strait of Hormuz Blockade
Tehran has long said any peace deal with Washington depends in part on an end to fighting in Lebanon. In northern Israel on Tuesday, Israeli troops operating in the Ramim Ridge area close to Lebanon's border killed one person in an incident in which they returned fire, the military said. Israel has never halted its Lebanon campaign, which has killed thousands of people, saying the conflict should be treated separately from any US-Iranian ceasefire. Hezbollah has also continued its attacks.
At the same time, Tehran has continued to block most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war carried a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that ship traffic through Hormuz is rising "very meaningfully," but added it would take many months to get back to normal flows of energy once the war is over.
Nuclear Concerns and Demands
Trump has said any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. Iran's demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets, and recognition of its control of the strait. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, warned the US against breaking its commitments and threatened escalation if diplomatic efforts collapse. "We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently. Break your commitments, and we'll switch to what we speak best," Ghalibaf, a key negotiator in ceasefire talks, said Tuesday in a post on X.
Recent Casualties and Ceasefire Status
Two members of Iran's air defense unit were killed Monday in an Israeli attack, the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported Tuesday. The two men were "killed while carrying out a mission to defend the country's airspace," IRIB said. A Tehran municipality employee was also killed in the attack, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported, bringing the confirmed death toll in Iran to three. Israel and Iran have restored a ceasefire following an exchange of missiles on Sunday and Monday that threatened a major escalation in the conflict. Tehran has warned it will resume attacks if Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon continue.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump told reporters early Tuesday that a deal with Iran could be reached "in two or three days." He claimed the deal would stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon and lead to the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
