Trump says Iran shot down US helicopter over Hormuz, vows to respond

President Donald Trump has accused Iran of shooting down a United States military helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz, saying that he will respond to the attack.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.

“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Trump’s latest threat risks rupturing an April 8 truce that paused the US-Israel war against Iran, though that agreement has already been pushed to the brink by repeated skirmishes across the region.

The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the region, had said earlier that the cause of the incident was under investigation.

“The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition,” CENTCOM said.

The latest escalation comes after the US military said that it disabled an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf on Monday.

Fighting has also erupted between Iran and Israel over the past days. Iran fired missiles at Israel in response to its bombing of Beirut. Israel retaliated by carrying out strikes inside Iran, despite Trump’s calls for restraint.