By Phil Stewart , Maya Gebeily and Tala Ramadan

U.S. helicopter downed while patrolling Hormuz, Trump says

WASHINGTON/BEIRUT/DUBAI, June 9 (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.

“They shot down a helicopter, and we are ‌responding as we speak,” Trump told ABC News. “I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is.”

Iran’s state media reported that Qeshm island in the Strait of Hormuz was attacked and that a projectile hit was confirmed in Sirik. Explosions were heard in eastern areas of Hormozgan, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Trump earlier said the two U.S. pilots involved in the 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.

“To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave,” he said ⁠on social media.

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 past 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.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal during a ​phone call on Tuesday that the incident “wasn’t a big deal” and stressed that “the pilot is fine.”

However, the episode could well add further strain to efforts to broker a peace deal to end the wider Middle East war and reopen Hormuz, a vital conduit for petroleum and other commodities.

Trump has repeatedly said Iran and the United States are close to an agreement, though there have been few signs of progress since a tenuous ceasefire took effect ​in early April.

A U.S. Navy surface drone found and rescued the two crew, the U.S. military said, after the U.S. Army attack helicopter went down in waters near Oman’s coast while on patrol ​at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (2300 GMT on Monday).

Item 1 of 7 U.S. President Donald Trump looks at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, U.S., June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

[1/7] U.S. President Donald Trump looks at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, U.S., June 8, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

The U.S. military’s Central Command gave no reason for the crash. It said the soldiers were rescued after two hours and said they were in stable condition – a ‌more cautious ⁠assessment than Trump’s description.

ISRAEL HITS LEBANON’S TYRE PORT CITY, KILLING EIGHT

In a parallel conflict, Israel struck the historic port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, killing at least eight people. It was the deadliest strike on the city since fighting erupted in Lebanon in early March, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel.

A video verified by Reuters showed debris strewn across a road at the site of the attack.

Israel’s refusal to end its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah has hindered Trump’s efforts to extend a tenuous ceasefire in the wider U.S.-Israeli war with Iran into a durable settlement.

Iran and Israel exchanged ​airstrikes earlier this week, killing two people in ​Tehran.

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