President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. will “respond” as he accused Iran of shooting down an Apache helicopter that was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
The two pilots involved in the attack “are safe and uninjured,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
Trump did not say what form the U.S. response would take. But his post signaled that conflict with Iran was about to ramp up once again, despite him claiming hours earlier that a deal with Tehran could be reached as soon as this week.
The two sides are in the final stages of a “very, very good deal” that will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons and fully reopen the Hormuz Strait “immediately upon signing,” Trump said late Monday night after leaving an NBA Finals game in New York City.
Such a deal could be signed “in two or three days,” Trump added. But he has repeatedly claimed throughout the war, which crossed the 100-day mark on Sunday, that the U.S. and Iran were on the cusp of signing a deal. No deal has emerged.
Trump’s latest deal comments came hours after the helicopter incident, according to U.S. Central Command, which said that the American AH-64 Apache had gone down “near the coast of Oman” on Monday evening at 7:33 p.m. ET.
Centcom, in a statement Tuesday morning, did not initially blame Iran for the downing, saying the incident is under investigation. The two soldiers involved in the crash were rescued within about two hours by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, Centcom said.
Iran did not directly claim responsibility for shooting down the helicopter, but some Iranian sources appeared to comment on the incident.
“So much for the Iranian military having been ‘obliterated’!” Iran’s official broadcaster Press TV said on Telegram in response to Trump’s Truth post.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, issued a cryptic threat on X, writing, “We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently.”
“Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best. You ride the horse you saddled!” Ghalibaf wrote.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s post.
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— CNBC’s Emma Graham and Megan Cassella contributed to this report.
