The U.S. military began retaliatory strikes against Iran on Tuesday after the downing of a U.S. helicopter over the Persian Gulf.
U.S. Central Command said that U.S. forces “began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m.” Eastern Time at the direction of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” Central Command stated.
Trump promised a military response earlier on Tuesday after the downing of the helicopter on Monday.
“Last night, the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote on social media. “The United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump said that the two aircrew piloting the Apache had been recovered safely and that they were unharmed. An earlier statement from Central Command described the crew as being in “stable condition” and said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
The latest round of tit-for-tat military exchanges between Iran and the United States threatens to further undermine the tenuous ceasefire between the two countries as they try to negotiate a settlement to end the conflict.
Iranian officials said that they were prepared to resume hostilities.
“We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently,” wrote Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, issued a similar statement, adding that the Strait of Hormuz is in Iranian and Omani territorial waters and urged “foreign forces” to depart or face “constant risk.”
U.S. Central Command said that the helicopter went down “near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters.”
The military escalation between the United States and Iran follows announcements by Iran and Israel on Monday that they would halt strikes against one another after Trump called for a ceasefire.
