Reuters
[Photo Credit: Reuters]
The United States on Tuesday launched strikes against Iran after President Donald Trump said Tehran had shot down a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, deepening doubts about prospects for peace between the two countries.
Iran’s state media reported that Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz was attacked and that a projectile hit was confirmed in the port city of Sirik on the strait. Explosions were heard in nearby Bandar Abbas, the Mehr news agency said.
Trump earlier said the two U.S. pilots involved in the helicopter incident were uninjured.
The Apache was brought down by a one-way Iranian attack drone, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi did not directly address the helicopter incident, but said foreign forces in the region risked being involved in accidents or crossfire.
Iran’s state media later cited a military source as saying that no offensive air military operations have been conducted in the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours.
The source was also quoted as saying that there would be a decisive response in the event of renewed “hostility by the enemy” in response to the helicopter incident.
The latest strikes began at 5 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) and “the mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression”, the U.S. military said on X.
Several Iranian air defense systems and radar systems around the Strait of Hormuz were targeted, Axios reported, citing a U.S. official.
