Trump announces Iran shot down US helicopter, vows retaliation
via SeneNews2 min read
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that Iran had shot down a US helicopter near Hormuz, promising to retaliate. This statement contradicts the optimism the US President had expressed just hours earlier regarding a swift agreement with Iran. Trump stated on Truth Social that he was informed by the military that Iranians shot down an advanced Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz last night. He confirmed both pilots were safe and unharmed but emphasized the US must retaliate. Earlier, Trump had spoken of being in the final stages of a "very, very good deal" with Iran, anticipating its conclusion within "two to three days." This marks the second crewed US aircraft confirmed by the US to have been shot down by Iranian forces since the war began on February 28. Previously, an F-15E fighter-bomber crashed in April in southwestern Iran, with its two pilots rescued. The Apache helicopter is an attack helicopter with a two-person crew, equipped with a machine gun and capable of carrying missiles. The US military's Central Command Centcom had previously reported that two crew members of an AH-64 Apache helicopter were rescued by US forces near the Omani coast approximately two hours after their aircraft was hit. A US naval surface drone was used in the rescue operation. In March, the US lost a refueling aircraft and its six crew members in a crash, which the military stated was not due to enemy fire. Before that, Kuwaiti armed forces mistakenly shot down three US F-15s, though all
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