"There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack."
According to US officials, Iran used a drone to launch the attack. But it's not clear whether the Iranian drone had deliberately attacked the helicopter, an unnamed US official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.
Iranian media appeared to acknowledge the incident, with the semi-official Mehr News Agency reporting that Iran had not claimed responsibility for the downed aircraft.
Hours after the attack, Centcom announced the US had carried out strikes in Iran as a response. It called the strikes "a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression".
According to US new website Axios, the new strikes focused on Iranian defence and radar systems. Iranian state media reported that explosions were heard along the coast of the Persian Gulf, including in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik.
In a phone interview with ABC News, Trump blamed Iran for the new US strikes.
"This is a response to what they did, they did with our helicopter last night, and I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that's what this one is," he said.
Back in Washington, US House Speaker Mike Johnson said he was in the room with Trump when he decided that US attacks on Iran should resume.
"We lament that it became necessary," said the top Republican in Congress, adding that "we're gonna have to take care of this business".
Aggravating-Hunt3551 on June 9th, 2026 at 18:30 UTC »
It's not immediately clear if the Apache's turbines ingested shrapnel from shooting down the drone or was just extremely unlucky and one ran into it but this wouldn't be the first time a helicopter was lost trying to intercept shaheed style drones.
JustAhobbyish on June 9th, 2026 at 18:18 UTC »
A couple hours ago and 37 more times Trump stated they was close to a deal. Now Iran has shot down very expensive piece of kit. Alarm bells should be ringing for Americans and globally. We should be listening to Ukrainians how to fight wars. Moving on from that politics here is simple.
Americans don't have will to escalate further and Iranians know this. Allowing Iran to have far more leverage. They don't have to worry about elections. Trump and co does. With bunch of yes men who Trump trusts who don't understand the details any deal going be bad.
June or July oil supplies get much tighter and effects will be harsh. Higher inflation and oil prices are coming.
Top-Worldliness5027 on June 9th, 2026 at 17:46 UTC »
Pakistan gonna request him to hold-off on it because they are very close to signing a deal