Trump says Iran shot down US helicopter over Hormuz, vows to respond

President Donald Trump has accused Iran of shooting down a United States military helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, saying that he will respond to the attack.

“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 in a social media post on Tuesday.

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“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Trump’s latest threat risks rupturing an April 8 truce that paused the US-Israeli war against Iran, though that agreement has already been pushed to the brink by repeated skirmishes across the region.

The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the region, had said earlier that the cause of the incident was under investigation.

“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” CENTCOM said.

The latest escalation comes after the US military said that it disabled an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf on Monday.

Fighting has also erupted between Iran and Israel over the past days. Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to its bombing of Beirut. Israel retaliated by carrying out strikes inside Iran, despite Trump’s calls for restraint.

Since the April truce came into effect, it has come under strain by repeated attacks and counter-attacks in the region.

Earlier this month, the US military carried out strikes against Iran’s Qeshm Island, to which Tehran responded with missile launches against a US base in Kuwait. A drone also hit Kuwait’s international airport, killing one person, but Iran has denied responsibility for that attack.

Trump has played down those previous instances of violence, stressing that a deal between Washington and Tehran remains close despite the tension.

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A direct Iranian attack on US troops appears to be a step up the escalatory ladder. Iranian forces have not taken responsibility for downing the helicopter.

Top officials in Tehran have repeatedly argued that the US naval siege on Iranian ports, as well as the ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon, constitute a violation of the April 8 ceasefire.

Minutes before Trump made his claim about the helicopter on Monday, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and its chief negotiator, suggested that his country is not afraid to return to war.

“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 wrote on the social media platform X.

“You ride the horse you saddled!”

Sina Azodi, the director of the Middle East studies programme at Georgetown University, said Iran is aware that the war is unpopular in the US.

He believes that Iran is trying to pressure Trump to finalise an agreement that would comprehensively end the conflict.

That pressure comes as Trump faces international scrutiny on multiple fronts. His country, for instance, is preparing to co-host the FIFA World Cup, which starts on Friday.

“The Iranians are trying to make it very clear that they’re not going to back down. They are willing to escalate with the Americans, and I think they’re putting as much pressure as they can on the American side to get a deal,” Azodi told Al Jazeera.