President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday that the United States “must” respond after Iran shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, the latest and most direct military confrontation between the two countries as already-fragile ceasefire arrangements show increasing signs of strain.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Trump did not specify what form the U.S. response would take or when it would occur.
U.S. Central Command confirmed that the helicopter went down at 7:33 p.m. ET Monday. The two crew members were rescued approximately two hours later by a Navy unmanned surface drone — the first such rescue operation ever conducted by the U.S. military — and then airlifted by helicopter to safety.

Two U.S. officials told CBS News that initial reports indicate an Iranian drone brought down the Apache. A separate source identified the drone as a Shahed-type drone. One official cautioned that it remains unclear whether the helicopter was deliberately targeted.

Iran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the incident. The semi-official Mehr News Agency reported Tuesday that no claim of responsibility had been made, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had not issued a statement as of midday Tuesday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded to Trump’s threat in a post on X, striking a cautious but pointed tone.
“Iran prefers the language of diplomacy,” Araghchi wrote. “However, as our Brave Warriors have shown to the world, we know how to speak other languages too.”

Araghchi suggested the helicopter incident may not have been intentional and called on “foreign forces” to leave the strait. He argued the Strait of Hormuz is “NOT international waters but shared between Iran and Oman,” and said that forces operating near Iranian territory face risks from “human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire.”

His statement came amid ongoing, delicate negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a potential agreement to end the broader conflict.

The helicopter incident came the day after Israel and Iran exchanged direct strikes for the first time since the April 8 ceasefire took effect — a fragile truce that has been showing cracks in recent days. Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military and fuel targets drew a ballistic missile counterattack from Tehran, though both sides subsequently stepped back from further escalation.

Israel has continued its separate offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon, launching fresh strikes on the southern city of Tyre on Tuesday and issuing an evacuation order for the city’s Christian quarter. Iran has warned that continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon would be met with a severe response.

Hezbollah has continued firing rockets into northern Israel.

Trump, who has urged both Israel and Iran to show restraint, has also been navigating growing tensions with Jerusalem. Reports emerged this week that Trump warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that further unilateral strikes on Iran could leave Israel isolated.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States acknowledged that the two allies have “some differences” to work through.