President Donald Trump has authorised a fresh round of US military strikes against Iran after accusing Tehran of shooting down a United States Army Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said he had been informed that Iranian forces brought down a US military helicopter during a patrol mission.
“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,” Trump wrote.
“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
The US president later appeared to soften his stance, saying the incident “wasn’t a big deal”, despite earlier declaring that the United States had to respond.
Shortly afterwards, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that its forces had resumed military operations against Iran.
“forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran,” CENTCOM said, adding that the attacks were in response to “yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter”.
Explosions were reported in the southern Iranian city of Sirik, while the US military confirmed it launched attacks at about 5pm US Eastern time (21:00 GMT).
“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” CENTCOM said.
Earlier, CENTCOM said the cause of the helicopter incident remained under investigation.
“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” it added.
Iran has disputed the US account of events. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister told Al Jazeera there was no deliberate targeting of a US helicopter by Iranian forces.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also called on foreign military forces operating near Iran’s borders to leave the region.
“The Strait of Hormuz is NOT international waters but shared between Iran and Oman, and located thousands of miles away from US shores. Maritime boundaries are crystal clear,” Araghchi said.
“Our Powerful Armed Forces are on constant alert for any violation of Iran’s airspace, land or waters. 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.”
The latest military action adds pressure on the April 8 ceasefire that halted fighting between the US, Israel and Iran, with repeated clashes threatening to undermine the agreement.
Fighting elsewhere in the region also continued on Tuesday. Israeli forces reportedly killed nine people in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre after issuing displacement orders, as attacks on southern Lebanon continued.
The developments came a day after the US military said it had disabled an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf. Iran and Israel have also exchanged attacks in recent days, with Iran launching missiles at Israel following Israeli strikes in Beirut and Israel later carrying out attacks inside Iran.
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance said any future agreement with Iran would benefit Americans regardless of Israel’s position, signalling that diplomatic efforts may still remain on the table despite the renewed military action.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
