The United States began launching strikes against Iran on Tuesday evening, following the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump announced that the US “must respond” to Iran’s downing of the helicopter.
“Last night, the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump described in a post on Truth Social. “The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Iranian media reported explosions heard in the eastern regions of Hormozgan and a projectile hit in Sirik.
Trump spoke with ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl on a call just before CENTCOM announced the strikes on Iran, ABC News reported.
“I think it’s very important to respond. They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding as we speak,” ABC News cited Trump as saying to Karl. “This is a response to what they did they did with our helicopter last night, and I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is.”
Trump added that the US has a deal that “was very good, and probably will [still be],” according to ABC News.
Multiple Iranian officials have disputed that Iran targeted the helicopter. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister told Qatari state-run Al Jazeera that Iran was not behind the attack. Additionally, Iranian state media cited an “informed military source” as saying that no air offensive military operations have been carried out in the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours.
The source added that if the enemy attacks under the pretext of downing a military helicopter, it will face a “decisive response,” Iran International cited Iranian media as reporting.
This is a developing story.
Goldie Katz and Reuters contributed to this report.