President Donald Trump has said that a US military helicopter was shot down by Iran and that the United States "must" respond.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump said he had been informed "that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz."
The Apache helicopter is the second crewed aircraft that Washington has confirmed was shot down by Iran during the Middle East war, following the loss of an F-15 fighter jet in April.
The downing of the helicopter and the prospect of a US response pose the latest in a series of threats to a shaky ceasefire that has been in place since April 8, as the United States and Iran struggle to negotiate an end to the war.
While the crew members were uninjured, "the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack," the US president said.
The Apache is an attack helicopter with a crew of two that is armed with a 30mm chain gun and can carry various other weapons, including Hellfire missiles.
High-risk operation
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for US forces in the Middle East, said earlier that two Apache crew members "were rescued by American forces after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman."
"The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition," CENTCOM said in a post on X, while the command's spokesperson said a naval surface drone helped rescue the downed helicopter's crew.
The United States has lost a number of aircraft during the war against Iran, which began with a US-Israeli attack on February 28.
The US F-15 shot down in April was hit by a shoulder-fired heat-seeking missile, with its two-person crew ejecting and landing in different areas inside Iran.
They were rescued in a major, high-risk US operation, during which an A-10 ground attack aircraft was damaged by Iranian fire to the extent that its pilot determined that the aircraft could not land and ultimately ejected after flying back to friendly territory.
In March, a US KC‑135 aerial refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members. The US military said the incident was not caused by hostile fire.
And earlier in the war, Kuwaiti forces mistakenly downed three American F-15E fighters, but all six crew members were able to eject.
