The United States carried out strikes against Iranian military and surveillance sites after a US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz, according to BBC News and NBC News. Both crew members survived and were recovered by an American unmanned surface vessel.
President Donald Trump accused Iran of shooting down the helicopter while it was patrolling the strait. US officials said current indications pointed to an Iranian drone, but one unnamed official said it was unclear whether any attack had been deliberate. Iran had not claimed responsibility, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency. The cause therefore remained contested rather than independently established.
US Central Command said it attacked air-defense systems, radar sites and ground-control stations near Hormuz. CENTCOM called the operation a proportional response to what it described as unjustified Iranian aggression. NBC reported that the strikes began at 5 p.m. Eastern Time and concluded shortly after 9 p.m.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it responded against 21 targets at US bases in the region, including sites in Bahrain and Jordan. US officials had not confirmed damage from those reported attacks in the supplied accounts. Jordan's military said it intercepted five Iranian missiles, while authorities in Bahrain said attacks had been repelled. Kuwait's army also reported intercepting an attack.
The helicopter's two soldiers were rescued within about two hours, CENTCOM said. A Task Force 59 drone boat found them off Oman, an operation described by a military spokesperson as the first such rescue by an unmanned vessel for US forces. They were stable and received medical attention; reported injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that Iran would answer attacks or threats and called on foreign forces to leave the region. US House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was present when Trump decided to resume attacks.
The exchange occurred while Washington and Tehran were also discussing a possible agreement. Trump said a deal could reopen the strait quickly, but no agreement had materialized. The renewed fire demonstrated how an incident with an uncertain trigger could escalate even while diplomacy continued. Responsibility for the helicopter's loss could not be stated as settled on the evidence available.
This account distinguishes confirmed actions from assertions about motive, responsibility and affiliation. That distinction matters because early reporting can contain partial information, especially during armed conflict or fast-moving diplomatic events. Unverified details have not been treated as established facts.
