President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. will “respond” as he accused Iran of shooting down an Apache helicopter that was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
The two pilots involved in the attack “are safe and uninjured,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump did not say what form the U.S. response would take. He has reportedly said privately that he will not throw out the ceasefire with Iran — which remains nominally active despite numerous outbreaks of fighting — unless U.S. troops are killed.
But Tuesday’s post signaled that conflict with Iran was about to ramp up once again, despite him claiming hours earlier that a deal with Tehran could be reached as soon as this week.
The two sides are in the final stages of a “very, very good deal” that will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons and fully reopen the Hormuz Strait “immediately upon signing,” Trump said late Monday night after leaving an NBA Finals game in New York City.
Such a deal could be signed “in two or three days,” Trump added. But he has repeatedly claimed throughout the war, which crossed the 100-day mark on Sunday, that the U.S. and Iran were on the cusp of signing a deal. No deal has emerged.
Trump’s late-night comments came hours after the helicopter incident, according to U.S. Central Command, which said that the American AH-64 Apache had gone down “near the coast of Oman” on Monday evening at 7:33 p.m. ET.
In a statement Tuesday morning, Centcom did not initially blame Iran for the downing, saying the incident is under investigation.
The two soldiers involved in the crash were rescued within about two hours by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, Centcom said.
Iran did not directly claim responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, but some Iranian sources appeared to comment on the incident.
“Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement on X on Tuesday afternoon.
“To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave,” Araghchi said, adding, “We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too.”
Iran’s official broadcaster Press TV responded to Trump’s Truth post by mocking his frequent claim that the Iranian military has been destroyed by the U.S.
“So much for the Iranian military having been ‘obliterated’!” Press TV posted on Telegram.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, in an X post issued a cryptic threat similar to Araghchi’s statement.
“We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently,” Ghalibaf wrote. “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled!”
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s post.
— CNBC’s Emma Graham and Megan Cassella contributed to this report.
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