United States strikes Iran after downing of American helicopter

(Patria) - The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the U.S. military began striking Iran on Tuesday evening in response to the downing of an Apache helicopter, Al Arabiya reported.

CENTCOM said the strikes were carried out on the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump. "The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression."

Nearly an hour after the first strikes were carried out, U.S. officials told Al Arabiya that Iranian air defenses and radars were targeted. The operation was still ongoing two hours after it began in a multi-phase attack.

Trump told ABC News that the response "should be very strong, very powerful, and this is exactly that."

Iran's Foreign Minister, shortly after the strikes began, threatened the U.S. on social media platform X, saying that Iranian forces will not leave any attack or threat unanswered. "Leave our region if you want to be safe," wrote Abbas Araghchi.

Earlier, the AP reported that a U.S. helicopter was shot down near the coast of Oman.

The helicopter crashed after colliding with an Iranian drone, according to a U.S. official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the strikes "targeted" and "defensive in nature" and added: "We regret that it became necessary."

He said it came after Iran's attacks on U.S. property and personnel in the region and "we cannot allow that" and added that the U.S. response was "proportional," the AP reported.