Trump says US will ‘respond’ after accusing Iran of downing Apache helicopter over Hormuz
US Central Command said an American AH-64 Apache had gone down “near the coast of Oman” on Monday evening
President Donald Trump has said the US will “respond” after accusing Iran of shooting down an Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the two pilots on board “are safe and uninjured” but added: “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Earlier on Tuesday, US Central Command said an American AH-64 Apache had gone down “near the coast of Oman” on Monday evening.
Centcom did not initially blame Iran, saying only that the incident remains under investigation.
The two soldiers aboard were rescued within about two hours by US Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, according to Centcom.
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The incident happened a day after Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other following an appeal from Trump, though Tehran warned it would resume hostilities if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The AH-64 Apache, which costs roughly $35 million to $40 million, has been used by the US military in operations around the Strait of Hormuz, where American forces maintain a major presence and have helped police a blockade of Iranian ports.
The resumption of the tenuous ceasefire comes as Washington tries to reach an agreement with Tehran to end their more than three-month-old war.
Trump also told reporters he could have "an idea" for an Iran deal within a few days, without elaborating.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 9, 2026
The weekend saw the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire in April.
Tehran had fired missiles towards Israeli territory late on Sunday, calling the strikes retaliation for attacks on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia on the outskirts of Beirut.
Israel then hit Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical plant that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it retaliated with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city of Haifa.
No deaths were reported by authorities on either side.
US and Israeli officials said Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said he warned Netanyahu that if the Israeli leader went back to war with Iran, he might find himself fighting alone.
"I said, 'Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon,'" Trump said.
An Israeli military official said Israel was prepared to continue operations for "as long as it takes", while Iranian officials struck a similarly defiant tone.
A military source quoted by the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Tehran was ready for a prolonged conflict and could renew strikes against US interests in the region.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was exchanging messages with Washington in an atmosphere of "extreme suspicion."
Tehran has long said any peace deal with the US depends in part on an end to fighting in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Hezbollah fighters who had fired across the border.
Israel has never halted its Lebanon campaign, which has killed thousands of people, saying the conflict should be treated separately from any US-Iranian ceasefire.
Hezbollah has also continued its attacks.
Tehran has continued to block most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which, before the war, carried a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas.
Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump has said any peace deal must ensure Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon.
Iran's demands include the lifting of international sanctions, the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets and recognition of its control of the strait.