US president blames Tehran for loss of Apache gunship, whose crew were rescued by a drone near strait of Hormuz
The US has launched strikes against Iran after Donald Trump blamed Tehran for downing a US army helicopter near the strait of Hormuz, imperilling a shaky ceasefire that was announced by the two countries in April.
The attacks triggered a wave of retaliatory strikes from Iran on Wednesday morning, with Tehran saying it had targeted Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
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© Photograph: US Central Command
© Photograph: US Central Command
© Photograph: US Central Command
La tregua entre Estados Unidos e Irán podría estar a punto de saltar por los aires. El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, ha dicho este martes que habrá represalias contra Irán por haber derribado un helicóptero estadounidense en el estrecho de Ormuz. El ataque no dejó víctimas. Tuvo lugar 100 días después del inicio de las hostilidades. Desde el 7 de abril está en vigor una tregua cada vez más frágil.
"Acabo de ser informado por nuestras Fuerzas Armadas de que los iraníes derribaron uno de nuestros helicópteros Apache de alta tecnología mientras patrullaba el estrecho de Ormuz", ha escritoTrump en su red Truth Social. "Dos pilotos estuvieron involucrados, ambos sanos y salvos. No obstante, Estados Unidos debe, necesariamente, responder a este ataque", ha añadido.
El helicóptero estadounidense cayó cerca de la costa de Omán, donde los dos soldados a bordo sobrevivieron, según informó este martes el Comando Central de las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos (Centcom). Fuerzas estadounidenses rescataron a los dos tripulantes del helicóptero AH-64 Apache, según informa la agencia Efe.
En el golfo de Omán, el Ejército estadounidense disparó a un buque petrolero por violar el bloqueo que Washington impone desde el 13 de abril contra embarcaciones que salen y llegan a puertos iraníes.
Estos hechos ocurren en medio de los nuevos enfrentamientos en la región, donde Irán e Israel han intercambiado ataques en los últimos días. Trump exigió el lunes a las dos partes que pararan. Las discrepancias con su aliado, el primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, son cada vez más intensas. Netanyahu quiere seguir atacando el Líbano hasta reducir a su mínima expresión a Hizbulá. Pero la campaña militar contra Irán y sus aliados se ha revertido contra Israel y EEUU.
El presidente estadounidense aseguró que podría alcanzar un acuerdo con Irán en "dos o tres días", el enésimo plazo que plantea tras varias semanas de negociación con la República Islámica. Sin embargo, en cualquier momento puede decidir más ataques. Irán no se quedará de brazos cruzados y la escalada salpicará a toda la región.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has accelerated its executions of dissidents and activists, with the true number of victims likely obscured by the regime’s internet censorship and blackout.
Ever since the January uprisings against the regime, Tehran has enforced a bloody clampdown against its opponents.
The Iran Human Rights Society has documented 784 executions so far in 2026. A representative from the organization told Fox News Digital that "these figures indicate a rapidly accelerating trend in executions since March," and explained that "in particular, the execution of political prisoners has reached a level not seen in the past 37 years."
'KILLING OFF THE COUNTRY': IRAN EXECUTES DOZENS, ARRESTS 4,000+ IN WAR CRACKDOWN
A State Department official told Fox News Digital that "we are aware of disturbing reports about the recent surge in executions in Iran." The official noted that "we strongly condemn the Iranian regime’s use of executions to punish people for exercising basic human rights, including Iranians peacefully protesting for a better life."
The official said that "for decades, Iranians have been subjected to torture and sham trials resulting in executions and severe punishments, often with coerced confessions as the only evidence presented against them."
According to information provided to Fox News Digital by the Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on June 4, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 18 prisoners between May 31 and June 1. These included 12 prisoners hanged on May 31, and an additional six prisoners executed on June 1, one of whom was said to be "hanged in public with utmost brutality."
IRAN REGIME USES WAR TO MASK 'BRUTAL' EXECUTION SURGE AGAINST POLITICAL OPPONENTS
The NCRI has counted a total of 32 executions between March 19 and June 1. These included eight members of Iranian dissident organization People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOE/MEK) and 24 participants in Iran’s January 2026 protests.
In documents provided to Fox News Digital, the NCRI said on June 7 that there was "an imminent risk of execution" for five political prisoners in the Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, four of whom were sentenced to death because they were charged with being members of PMOI/MEK.
Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, posted on X a call for "urgent action" from the U.N. "to prevent the execution."
Days earlier on June 2, following two other executions against January protesters, Rajavi said on X that the "clerical regime has committed another horrific crime in Iran." She called on the U.N. Security Council and European Union "to decisively condemn these criminal executions and take effective action to stop the killing of political prisoners and protesters in Iran."
The Iran Human Rights Society echoed NCRI’s account of 18 recent executions between May 31 and June 1. Their representative explained that despite the internet blackout, they receive reports from "a network of prison sources, prisoners' families, lawyers, and local contacts" and explained that "all reports are reviewed and cross-checked through multiple independent sources before publication." Though they say "internet restrictions make documentation more difficult," they stated they "continue to receive, verify, and document information."
IRAN GOES DARK AS REGIME UNLEASHES FORCE, CYBER TOOLS TO CRUSH PROTESTS
Alp Toker, the director of NetBlocks, a global internet monitor, told Fox News Digital that "internet connectivity in Iran is largely restored but the service that is available remains limited compared to the state of things before the protests and the war this year. For most users, in practice, that means international access is slow with indications of throttling and there's also increased filtering, particularly targeting messaging apps.
"It's been in this limbo state since the restoration with no significant change for better or worse," he said.
However, the Iran Human Rights Society representative noted that the actual number of executions is "almost certainly" higher than the figure they have captured. "The ruling authorities in Iran frequently carry out executions in secret and do not publicly announce many of them," the representative explained. Additionally, the representative added that "a significant number of executions, particularly in remote areas or locations with limited access to information, may remain undocumented or reach us only after a considerable delay."
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The representative also noted that the quantity of executions the Iran Human Rights Society documents "has consistently been lower than the actual number carried out."
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dr. Mai Sato, did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the increased executions in Iran.
On June 20th, up to 100,000 Iranian expats from both sides of the Atlantic are expected to hold a major rally in Paris to urge an end to the executions. More than 100 lawmakers, officials, former heads of state and ministers are also expected to join, according to the NCRI.
U.S. President Donald Trump says the Iranians shot down the AH-64 Apache that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz overnight and vowed to retaliate. As we noted earlier today, the crew was safely rescued by a drone boat, an unprecedented action, which you can read more about here.
“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 stated on Truth Social. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump says that Iranian forces shot down the Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter that went down over Hormuz yesterday.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 9, 2026
He says that the US "must, of necessity, respond to this attack" pic.twitter.com/divKHkhgZm
Trump did not elaborate on how the Apache was shot down.
It’s worth noting that Iran’s small boats are known to be man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) threats and also small FPV drones and loitering munitions, which Iran also possesses, have become a real threat to helicopters.
A U.S. official told Axios an investigation “determined that an Iranian drone hit the helicopter, causing it to crash. The U.S. official said the investigation had not determined whether that was intentional.”
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) June 9, 2026
Trump did not say exactly how the U.S. will respond, but given past history of tensions in the region, an attack on Iranian facilities that could have been involved in the shoot-down would not be surprising. We have seen similar responses when Iran has fired at ships in the past.
Whether this will finally break the shaky ceasefire is an open question. Last week, Trump told reporters that he would consider resuming the war if Iran caused U.S. troop deaths.
“Yeah, if they killed U.S. troops, I think I would do that very quickly,” he said.
We have reached out to the White House and U.S. Central Command for additional details. CENTCOM declined comment.
UPDATE: 1:57 PM EDT –
Iranian official media has yet to explicitly confirm or deny involvement in the downing of the Apache. In a post on X addressing Trump’s claim, the Fars News Agency offered a veiled threat from Mohammad Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament.
“We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently,” Ghalibaf said on his own X account, repeated here by Fars. “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled.”
— خبرگزاری فارس (@FarsNews_Agency) June 9, 2026
عهد خود را بشکنید، تا به همان زبانی برگردیم که از همه بهتر بلدیم. https://t.co/JeROqni9mJ
IRIB just repeated CNN’s report that the helicopter gunship was taken down by a Shahed drone.
— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) June 9, 2026
Press TV, meanwhile, took a rather cheeky approach.
“US President Donald Trump says Iran shot down ‘one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,'” the outlet stated on X. “So much for the Iranian military having been ‘obliterated!'”
US President Donald Trump says Iran shot down "one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz."
— Press TV
So much for the Iranian military having been "obliterated"!
Follow https://t.co/B3zXG73Jym pic.twitter.com/AHhkNao1du
UPDATE: 4:20 PM EDT –
In a call with The Wall Street Journal, Trump tried to downplay the Apache downing, saying that it “wasn’t a big deal” and stressing that “the pilot is fine.”
Earlier today, Trump sought to play down the incident. In a phone call with the WSJ, Trump said that it “wasn’t a big deal,” stressing that “the pilot is fine.” He said he had the details on the incident and that “it was much different than you think.” https://t.co/arzskUbdSt
— Vera Bergengruen (@VeraMBergen) June 9, 2026
Exiting a classified congressional briefing, CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper offered a short answer to reporter questions about how the U.S. will respond to Iran downing the Apache.
“We’ll see,” he said, according to NOTUS reporter Joe Gould in a post on X.
Reporters asked Centcom’s Adm. Brad Cooper, exiting a classified congressional briefing, what the “response” would be to the downed U.S. helicopter.
— Joe Gould (@reporterjoe) June 9, 2026
“We’ll see.” pic.twitter.com/w4MwOTr9px
UPDATE: 5:25 PM EDT –
In a post on X, CENTCOM announced its “forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”
We have reached out to the command for more details.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) June 9, 2026
CENTCOM’s post follows reports from the official Iranian Mehr news agency about the sounds of explosions.
In a post on Telegram, the official Iranian Mehr news outlet is reporting that there have been “sounds of explosions heard in the Sirik port area.
According to Mehr, “the exact nature of these sounds is not yet clear, and none of the official military or law enforcement agencies have commented on the cause of these sounds so far.”
“Investigations to obtain accurate information about the nature of these explosions are ongoing,” Mehr added.
Explosions reported in Sirik, an Iranian port city on the Strait of Hormuz- Iranian state media pic.twitter.com/HOJ4vAk1cT
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 9, 2026
UPDATE: 5:42 PM EDT –
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl was on the phone with Trump as CENTCOM announced the retaliatory strikes against Iran.
“I think it’s very important to respond,” Karl said Trump told him. “They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding as we speak…I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that’s what this one is.”
I was on the phone with Trump as CENTCOM announced US retaliatory strikes against Iran. Here's what he said:
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) June 9, 2026
"I think it's very important to respond. They shot down a helicopter, and we are responding as we speak."
He added: "This is a response to what they did they did with…
UPDATE: 6:19 PM EDT –
Tasnim is reporting that the U.S. strikes appear to be over for now.
“The wave of American attacks in the south has subsided, and after the hostile actions in Qeshm, Sirik, Jask and Mount Mubarake Jask, the situation is now reported to be calm,” the outlet claimed on Telegram. It also published a video it says shows “a suicide drone in the sky of Iraq.”
— Visioner (@visionergeo) June 9, 2026
This is a developing story.
Contact the author: howard@twz.com
The post AH-64 Apache Shot Down By Iran, U.S. Will Retaliate: Trump (Updated) appeared first on The War Zone.
A U.S. Navy uncrewed surface vessel (USV) found and rescued the crew of a U.S. Army Apache that went down overnight near the Strait of Hormuz, in the Gulf of Oman. This is the first known use of a drone boat executing a personnel recovery action as part of a military search and rescue operation, and it’s likely a glimpse of what’s to come. The cause of the incident is otherwise under investigation.
Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman, has confirmed the use of the Navy USV in the rescue effort to TWZ. This had already been hinted at by the mention of Task Force 59, the Navy’s main drone force in the Middle East, in an official CENTCOM statement. What specific type of drone boat was utilized in this case is not yet known. Task Force 59 operates a variety of USVs, including speedboat-like types. The Task Force has been experimenting with all types of new uncrewed naval technologies and this rescue is clearly a major win for the forward-looking unit.
“At 7:33 p.m. ET on June 8, two crew members from a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache were rescued by American forces after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters,” per CENTCOM’s statement. “The Soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition. The cause of the incident is under investigation.”
“Rescue efforts were led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from U.S. Air Force and Navy units including U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59,” the statement added.
The New York Times was first to report that an Apache had gone down near the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump had also confirmed the crew was safe while speaking to reporters earlier this morning.
“We are going to issue a report tomorrow, but the pilots are fine,” Trump said after returning to Washington from the NBA Finals in New York.
A US Army Apache helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz and it wasn’t clear if the aircraft suffered mechanical troubles or had been shot down by Iran, the New York Times reported.
— Annmarie Hordern (@annmarie) June 9, 2026
Asked about the episode by @jendlouhyhc, Trump said the pilots were fine and that a report…
As we have reported in the past, Army AH-64s have been part of an effort by the U.S. military to enforce the ongoing blockade of Iran and to protect commercial shipping. Last month, Apaches and U.S. Navy MH-60 Seahawk helicopters destroyed six small Iranian boats that were threatening commercial ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM. Apaches had already been conducting missions targeting Iranian naval assets in and around the Strait of Hormuz before the announcement of the ceasefire in April. All of this has shown that armed helicopters remain important assets in maritime operations, especially for defending against swarms of small boats.
As TWZ regularly highlights, search and rescue operations present inherent complexities and risks, especially when conducted in or near hostile territory. The F-15E rescue effort in Iran put a particular spotlight on the immense risks that combat search and rescue (CSAR) forces take, with helicopters and C-130 variants sent into areas where even a high-end fighter aircraft didn’t survive.
Open-water recoveries can present distinct additional challenges. There is always the possibility of the loss of additional assets and personnel in the process, no matter where a CSAR mission occurs.
The use of a Navy drone boat in the rescue overnight highlights a new dimension for maritime CSAR going forward. These uncrewed assets can be more readily pre-positioned in a distributed manner. For example, in the broad expanse of the Pacific, USVs could be forward-deployed at multiple points along certain flight paths for this exact purpose. USVs could offer other distinct advantages in certain scenarios where they might be able to get into areas where traditional assets cannot and without risking additional personnel. These realities extend well beyond the maritime domain, and we are only likely to see uncrewed platforms of all kinds increasingly taking part in rescue efforts, especially in denied areas. The U.S. military is coming to terms with just how vulnerable their CSAR assets are and the ranges that would be needed to access highly defended areas, especially during a peer fight. Using drones to execute personnel recovery is being viewed as one part of a larger set of solutions to this pressing problem.
With the Apache going down near the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military has now lost at least seven crewed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters since the start of the latest operations against Iran in February. In addition, several aircraft have been damaged in the air and on the ground, including by Iranian fire. The TWZ graphic below offers a visual tally of damaged and destroyed aircraft as of April 10.
Despite the loss of the Apache, the use of a USV in the rescue effort is a major development and a sign of things to come.
UPDATE: 12:56 PM EDT –
President Donald Trump said the Apache was shot down by Iran and that the U.S. will retaliate.
“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,” the president said on his Truth Social network. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump says that Iranian forces shot down the Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter that went down over Hormuz yesterday.
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 9, 2026
He says that the US "must, of necessity, respond to this attack" pic.twitter.com/divKHkhgZm
UPDATE: 1:53 PM EDT –
You can read more about Trump’s shoot-down statement and what could happen next in our story here.
Contact the author: howard@twz.com
The post AH-64 Apache Crew Rescued By Drone Boat After Going Down Near Strait Of Hormuz (Updated) appeared first on The War Zone.
People flee historic district of ancient city after airstrikes hit residential areas and damage archaeological sites
Israel has bombed the city of Tyre, killing eight and injuring at least 32 people, and struck dozens of other villages in south Lebanon as it issued forced evacuation orders for the historic Christian quarter of the ancient city for the first time.
Israel struck the al-Masaken neighbourhood without warning on Tuesday morning, sending smoke plumes high above the city’s buildings and igniting fires. Further airstrikes were carried out across the city and a series of bombings hit Abbasieh, a village north of Tyre.
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© Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Kawant Haju/AFP/Getty Images
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