Topline
President Donald Trump said Tuesday Iran shot down a U.S. helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, vowing retaliation, despite saying for weeks a peace deal was just days away.
President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Air Force One prior to departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, on June 9, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts
Trump said Tuesday afternoon he had “just been informed” an Apache helicopter was shot down by the Iranians on Monday night, he wrote on Truth Social, adding the U.S. “must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
He said the two U.S. pilots involved are safe and uninjured.
Trump acknowledged Monday a helicopter had crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, but it was unclear at the time whether it was shot down or encountered a technical issue.
U.S. Central Command also said earlier Tuesday the pilots were rescued within two hours after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman and the incident was under investigation.
Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told The New York Times on Tuesday the U.S. Navy used an unmanned surface drone to rescue the pilots and transport them to another location in the water where they were then hoisted up to a helicopter.
The attack casts doubt on Trump’s repeated claims the U.S. and Iran are close to reaching a peace agreement—he told reporters Monday the sides were in the “final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” predicting it would take “two or three days” to finalize.
Tangent
This is the first U.S. helicopter lost in the war with Iran since it began on Feb. 28. Iran has shot down dozens of unmanned Reaper drones and several U.S. fighter jets since the start of the conflict. In April, two U.S. pilots were rescued deep in Iranian territory after their U.S. Air Force F-15E was shot down. Iran has also disabled several other U.S. aircraft at airbases in the region.
Key Background
Trump has repeatedly insisted the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is still in effect despite several skirmishes between the two sides. Israel and Lebanon have also continued fighting, which Iran has repeatedly said is a violation of the ceasefire deal reached with the U.S. in early April and a nonstarter in any peace talks. Israel, meanwhile, has said its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon are separate from the conflict between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, issued a veiled warning Tuesday in the wake of reports of continued attacks by Israel in Lebanon. “We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently,” he wrote on X. “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best.”
further reading
U.S. Army Helicopter Crashes Near Strait Of Hormuz—Trump Says ‘Pilots Are Fine’ (Forbes)
Trump Says Iran And Israel Are Looking For ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ After Trading Strikes (Forbes)