President Donald Trump said the US must respond after he blamed Iran for shooting down an American military helicopter off Oman, posing a new threat to the peace deal he’s said for weeks is close.
“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 posted Tuesday on social media. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
There was no immediate indication of what action the US is planning and no response from Iran. US stock prices deepened their slide on the news and oil prices pared earlier losses. Trump’s comments came just hours after his latest claim that an agreement to halt the fighting was close, even as a renewed outbreak of fighting between Israel and Iran raised fears the conflict was escalating again. On Monday, the two countries agreed to halt strikes on each other following a flare-up that saw both sides launch waves of ballistic missiles. A ceasefire has been in place for about two months, but sporadic fighting among the US, Iran and Israel has continued, underscoring the risk of a return to full-scale war in the absence of a lasting peace deal. Mediation efforts between the US and Iran to strike a deal remain intense, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions between the mediators led by Pakistan and the two warring sides are ongoing, one of the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information. Talks between all parties are expected to continue this week, the person said.
President Donald Trump said, “the United States must, of necessity, respond” against Iran for shooting down a US military helicopter. Tyler Kendall reports.
Trump’s diplomatic tack is troubling Israel, which isn’t part of the negotiations and worries that a deal may leave Iran with the means to pose a threat in the future. “We need to ensure that Iran comes out of this confrontation unable to reconstitute its own capabilities, as well as those of its proxies,“ said Orit Strock, a member of Israel’s security cabinet, referring to groups like Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Interviewed on Israel’s Army Radio, she voiced hope that Tehran would not secure a windfall in sanctions relief. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Monday that he would hold fire on Iran for now but would respond should Tehran attack again. Oil prices had slipped before Trump’s comments amid growing signs that some crude is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz despite the US and Iranian blockades. Offering another potential front of escalation, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen said they had launched a missile barrage on Israel and would be imposing a “complete and total ban on maritime navigation for the Israeli enemy in the Red Sea,” according to a statement on their Telegram channel on Monday.