US launches new Iran strikes after Trump blames Tehran for downing US helicopter

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: The US military said it had started launching strikes against Iran in response to the downing of an American Army helicopter.

The US Central Command said its forces began launching “self-defence” strikes against Iran, at 7am on Wednesday (AEST) at US President Donald Trump’s direction. The strikes are the first US strikes against Iran since the fragile ceasefire came into effect on April 8.

Earlier, Trump blamed Iran for shooting down the Apache attack helicopter close to the Strait of Hormuz and said the US must respond.

“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” Central Command said in a statement.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a one-way Iranian attack drone brought down the Apache. Central Command has said the two crew members were rescued by a sea drone, in a first, and are in stable condition.

US news site Axios reported that US Forces attacked several Iranian air-defence systems and radar systems around the Strait of Hormuz, citing a US official.

Iran hit back in the early hours of Wednesday morning, launching missiles at Al-Azraq air base in Jordan, while sirens were heard over Kuwait and Bahrain amid suspected drone attacks.

Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard on an island in the Strait of Hormuz and in eastern parts of Hormozgan province, and that a projectile struck a target in Sirik. Iran’s Mehr news agency said explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, Reuters reported.

Trump earlier said in a social media post that military officials told him “the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters”. He added that both service members were “safe and uninjured”.

“Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” Trump wrote on Tuesday (US time).

After the helicopter went down, the US said a drone boat – in the first known operation of its kind by the American military – rescued the two aviators who were aboard.

Soon after Trump made his accusation, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post that the Strait of Hormuz was “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. “To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave.”

Following the strikes, Araghchi accused the US of testing Iran’s determination.

“Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered,” he said in a post on X. “Leave our region if you want to be safe. History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders.”

The Times reported that a one-way Iranian Shahed attack drone downed the American helicopter, citing a US official.

The incident further strained the 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 on Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air-defence units.

Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 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 aviators were rescued about 3.30am local time on Tuesday, some two hours after their helicopter went down during a patrol off the coast of Oman, US Central Command said.

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 Captain Tim Hawkins. Hawkins initially said the drone took the two to shore and 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 7.3-metre vessel called a Corsair, Hawkins said.

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.

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 on Monday. But he didn’t provide any details on why there was reason for new 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 hardline 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 on 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, General Rodolphe Haykal, travelled 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 defence 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 neighbourhoods 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 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 neighbourhood soon.”