Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that the United States “must, of necessity, respond” to the Iranian downing of a US Apache helicopter that was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz overnight.
Two American service personnel were rescued from the vital waterway in a stable condition after the $40 million gunship went down, the military said.
In a post on social media, Trump blamed Tehran for the incident and vowed to hit back, just hours after wading in to prevent a full-scale conflict between Iran and Israel.
“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,” he wrote.
“There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
The US and Iran are still nominally held to the April 8 ceasefire agreement while working to find an end to the conflict, now in its fourth month.
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