US launches strikes on Iran in response to incident of helicopter shot down over Hormuz

The U.S. Armed Forces have begun strikes against Iran in response to the incident with the downed American helicopter. This was announced by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on social network X. It calls these strikes "self-defense", they began at 17:00 Eastern Time (23:00 CET, 02:00 Astana) on Tuesday, June 9.

"The mission represents a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression," CENTCOM said in a statement.

The scale of the strikes is unclear from the command's statement. But they undermine the already fragile truce between the U.S. and Iran, reached in April, according to Bloomberg. The sides have been exchanging attacks despite U.S. President Donald Trump's claims that Washington and Tehran are close to signing a peace deal, the agency noted. Back on June 9, Trump said an agreement could be reached within "two or three days."

Earlier on Tuesday, the Apache helicopter was reported shot down by Trump. According to him, it happened when the helicopter was patrolling the airspace over the Strait of Hormuz. Both pilots survived, with CENTCOM saying they were rescued by US military forces after the helicopter crashed into the sea off the coast of Oman. Trump has promised to respond to Tehran over the incident.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said the Strait of Hormuz is not international waters but Iranian and Omani space, and that foreign forces would be better off leaving the region to reduce the risks of their "own human error, accidental accidents or potential crossfire."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor