WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. military had informed him Iran was responsible for downing a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, and that Washington would respond, even as both crew members were rescued safely. Iran did not publicly claim responsibility, and the cause of the crash remained under formal investigation.
"Last night, the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said, adding that the United States "must, of necessity, respond to this attack." He did not specify what a response would involve or when it might come, according to Time.
U.S. Central Command said the aircraft went down near the coast of Oman on Monday evening while patrolling regional waters. The two crew members were rescued by American forces at about 7:33 p.m. ET, roughly two hours after the crash, and were in stable condition, CENTCOM said. Trump, speaking earlier at a New York airport after attending the NBA Finals, said the pilots were "fine" and that "nobody" was injured.
The rescue was carried out by a U.S. Navy unmanned surface vessel — a drone boat — that located the crew in the water, in what CENTCOM described as the first use of a maritime drone for such a mission, according to Axios and Time. The vessel is operated by the 5th Fleet's Task Force 59, which fields uncrewed naval systems in the region; the effort also involved U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, CENTCOM said.
Before Trump's remarks, officials had said it was not clear whether the Apache was brought down by hostile fire, suffered a mechanical failure or encountered another problem, according to NewsNation, which said the cause remained under investigation. The administration said it would issue a report on the incident.
The episode appears to mark the first loss of an Apache in the conflict, which began Feb. 28. U.S. forces have lost several aircraft since then, including F-15E fighter jets in a friendly-fire incident involving Kuwaiti air defenses in March and another F-15E inside Iran in April, according to a congressional research report cited by Time. Apaches have been part of U.S. efforts to enforce a blockade of Iran and protect commercial shipping around the strait.
The crash came amid renewed tensions after Iran and Israel exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time since an April ceasefire, and a day before Israel ordered the evacuation of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. Trump has continued to express optimism about reaching a deal with Iran, saying this week that an agreement could come within "two or three days" and that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen immediately afterward, according to CNBC. He has made similar predictions of an imminent deal on multiple occasions since the spring.
© 2026 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
