President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Iran downed a U.S. helicopter and the country, "must, of necessity, respond to this attack."
"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. There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack," Trump said in a social media publication.
The incident in question took place when the helicopter was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman. U.S. officials told CNN that the helicopter was taken down by an Iranian drone.
The outlet went on to say that it was the first time an Apache helicopter went down since the war began in late February.
"The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition," the U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.
CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Timothy Hawkins said a U.S. Navy drone rescued the crew and took them to another location where they were later picked up by another helicopter.
Trump's remarks come shortly after he voiced confidence in reaching a deal with Iran to end the war, saying such a scenario could take place in "two or three days."
Speaking to press after attending the NBC Finals in New York, Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened "immediately" after a deal, which he described as "very good" and claimed it will "not in any way allow nuclear weapons."
This comes after a brief but significant escalation between Israel and Iran, which threatened to renew large-scale hostilities over the past days. The countries traded strikes after Tehran launched missiles to Israel for the first time in about two months over strikes against a Beirut suburb considered a Hezbollah stronghold.
Both countries said on Monday they were ceasing operations but warned they were ready to strike again if targeted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that "after Iran attacked Israel" he "directed the IDF to strike military and economic targets throughout Iran."
He noted that, at the moment, "the fire on this front has been halted, because after the terrorist regime in Tehran was struck, it stopped attacking us," but warned that "if that terrorist regime makes the mistake of attacking us again, we will respond with force."
