US, Iran exchange airstrikes after Trump accuses Tehran of downing army helicopter

US, Iran exchange airstrikes after Trump accuses Tehran of downing army helicopter The US military said on Tuesday it carried out strikes on Iran after an Army helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, an incident President Donald Trump blamed on Tehran. Iran denied responsibility and vowed to respond. Washington called the attacks a “proportional response,” while Iranian media reported explosions on Qeshm Island. The US military said Tuesday that it carried out strikes on Iran following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz that US President Donald Trump blamed on the Islamic Republic. Tehran vowed to respond. The strikes were “a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” US Central Command said on social media. Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping lane that Iran has effectively closed during the war, before saying the wave of American attacks in the south had “subsided.” Trump said earlier in a social media post that Iran had shot down the aircraft while it was on patrol over the strait and declared that the US “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.” Iran's top diplomat said foreign military forces near its territory “are at constant risk” and later vowed that there would be a response to the new US strikes. Iranian forces “will leave no attack or threat unanswered,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on the social platform X. “Leave our region if you want to be safe.” Read moreTrump remains optimistic peace deal can be reached despite Middle East flare-up The downing of the helicopter and the strikes by the US military further strained a two-month ceasefire a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time since the fragile truce took effect. Iranian state television said Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air-defense units. Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict, particularly as Israel intensifies and expands its military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. The Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter went down after colliding with an Iranian drone, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. It wasn’t clear whether the collision was intentional, and official statements only said the crash is under investigation. CNN, CBS News and other outlets earlier reported the collision. In the first known operation of its kind by the American military, a drone boat rescued two aviators at 3:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, about two hours after their aircraft went down during a patrol off the coast of Oman, US Central Command said. Trump said both service members “are safe and uninjured." Read moreTrump 'can influence pace, scale and political boundaries of Israeli action', analyst says The US service members were spotted and picked up by a drone boat that took them to another location on the water, where they were picked up by a helicopter, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for US Central Command. He initially said the drone took the two to shore, and he did not elaborate on the updated timeline. It was the first known drone rescue at sea by the US military, Hawkins said. AH-64 Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into a deal. The helicopters have also been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones. The drone used to perform the rescue was a 24-foot (7.3-meter) vessel called a Corsair, Hawkins said. It’s manufactured by Saronic Technologies. The drone was assigned to the Navy’s Task Force 59, established in 2021 as the Navy’s first uncrewed and artificial intelligence unit that focuses on maritime security in the Middle East, including the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal. Soon after Trump made his accusation that Iran shot down the aircraft, Araghchi said the strait is “thousands of miles away from US shores.” “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,” Araghchi wrote on social media. “To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave.” Read moreWho calls the shots? Trump tries to rein in Netanyahu, salvage Iran deal Before he accused Iran of downing the US helicopter, Trump had expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran. “We have a good chance” of signing a deal in “two or three days," Trump said late Monday. But he did not provide any details on why there was reason for optimism. In the two months since the US and Iran agreed to an initial ceasefire, Trump has repeatedly predicted that a deal is near. “We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” the president said. Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line. However, both Iran and the US have taken hard-line positions. The US wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be entombed in the aftermath of American airstrikes that happened during the 12-day war in 2025. But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump. Before Trump’s comments on negotiations, Qalibaf said Monday that Trump’s remarks so far on a possible deal “contradicted the agreed-upon sections," showing that the US is “neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue.” The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is still a top Iranian priority as well. Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Rodolphe Haykal, traveled to Pakistan on Tuesday. There, he met Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been a key figure in the Iran-US talks. Haykal's visit comes as Lebanon's government takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia. Hezbollah thanked Iran on Tuesday for attacking Israel “in defense of our Lebanese people,” suggesting that Lebanon's government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon’s southern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which has so far been spared from airstrikes on the city. Last week, Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that it believed Hezbollah members were among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks. After last week’s warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area. But Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X on Monday that the Israeli military “will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighborhood soon.” (FRANCE 24 with AP)