Strait of Hormuz Incident: Iran Downs US Apache, US Pledges Retaliation

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Iranian forces were responsible for the downing of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The incident occurred during a routine maritime patrol mission over the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement posted on his official Truth Social account, President Trump confirmed that an AH-64 Apache belonging to the U.S. Army had been brought down by Iranian action. He conveyed that intelligence received indicated the downing of the Apache while it conducted patrol duties near the Strait of Hormuz. Trump added, “Two pilots were involved in the incident; both are safe and unharmed. Nevertheless, the United States is compelled to respond to this attack.”

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) subsequently released its own statement, detailing that the AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed near the Omani coast at approximately 02:33 local time during its patrol. CENTCOM affirmed that both personnel aboard the aircraft were successfully recovered from the crash site within approximately two hours and were reported to be in stable condition.

According to a report by Euronews, this incident marks the first publicly acknowledged instance of the U.S. military employing an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) for personnel recovery operations. The USV played a critical role in extracting both pilots after the helicopter’s loss near the strategic waterway, which Iran has largely restricted to vessel traffic.

The loss of the rotary-wing aircraft is expected to significantly heighten tensions surrounding a fragile ceasefire that has been in effect for roughly two months. This agreement had already come under renewed pressure following mutual attacks between Iran and Israel on Monday, June 8, marking the first such engagements since the ceasefire’s implementation. In this context, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday that at least two members of the country’s air defense units were killed in Israeli strikes.

---

Disclaimer: This content has been aggregated and reported by our automated systems.