US and Iran launch airstrikes after Trump blamed Tehran for downing helicopter

A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7 (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP))

The US military launched airstrikes and Iran retaliated on Wednesday following the crash of an Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz which US President Donald Trump blamed on the Islamic Republic.

Iran launched attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait, which both sounded alerts and fired air defences in response. Iran also said it targeted an air base in Jordan hosting US forces, which was not immediately acknowledged either by American or Jordanian officials.

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.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Iran had shot down the aircraft while it was on patrol over the strait (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

Fighter jets from the US Air Force and Navy conducted the strikes in Iran, the US military’s Central Command said, targeting “air defence, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites”.

Iran acknowledged strikes around Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, but gave no details on the damage.

“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.

Mr 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 X. “Leave our region if you want to be safe.”

The downing of the Apache attack 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 TV said on Tuesday that the Israeli attacks killed at least two members of the country’s air-defence units.

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.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (Manish Swarup/AP))

It was not 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 3.30am local time on Tuesday, about two hours after their aircraft went down during a patrol off the coast of Oman, US Central Command said.

Mr Trump said both service members were “safe and uninjured”.

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, 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, Mr Hawkins said.

Soon after Mr Trump made his accusation that Iran shot down the aircraft, Mr 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,” Mr Araghchi wrote on social media. “To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave.”

Before he accused Iran of downing the US helicopter, Mr Trump had expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran, but he did not say why there was reason for optimism.

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 Mr Trump.

The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is still a top Iranian priority. 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.

Mr 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.