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President Donald Trump has vowed this week to retaliate against Iran, accusing the regime of shooting down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.
“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
As reported by RSBN, the U.S. Central Command initially announced the incident, noting that an Apache had been lost at sea while patrolling just off the coast of Oman. The Apache’s two crew members were thankfully rescued by U.S. military forces within two hours, CENTCOM said.
“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured,” President Trump said in his statement. “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
In a statement to Fox News, CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins said that the two crew members of the downed Apache were rescued with a drone – an “unmanned surface vehicle.”
“This was an operational first for the U.S. military,” he told the outlet.
The situation between the United States and Iran has remained fragile amid an ongoing ceasefire. Iran’s persistent aggression regarding the Strait of Hormuz – a key Middle East shipping channel – has remained a point of contention, and now, with this latest Iranian attack on U.S. Army forces, it seems that tensions are only heightening.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi released a statement on Tuesday, ominously noting, “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. To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave. We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too.”