06/09/2026
BREAKING: U.S. launches strikes on Iran after Army Apache helicopter downed near Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military has begun striking Iran. U.S. Central Command says the strikes started at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday at the direction of President Trump, calling the mission “a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”
The retaliation follows the downing of a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter that went down off the coast of Oman during a patrol near the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump said military officials told him “the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters.” U.S. officials say initial indications point to an Iranian drone, reportedly a Shahed, though it is not yet clear whether the strike was deliberate.
Both Army aviators aboard survived and are safe and uninjured. In what CENTCOM says is the first known drone rescue at sea by the U.S. military, an unmanned 24-foot surface vessel located the two crew members after about two hours in the water and carried them to a point where a helicopter could pick them up. The drone was assigned to the Navy’s Task Force 59, the service’s first uncrewed and AI-focused unit, established in 2021 to handle maritime security in the Middle East.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, did not claim responsibility but warned that foreign forces near Iranian territory “are at constant risk,” adding that the best way to reduce that risk “is for them to leave.”
The escalation strains a fragile two-month ceasefire and comes the same day Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the first time since the truce took hold. Since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has rattled the global economy and pushed energy prices higher worldwide, something Space Coast families have felt every time they fill up.
We are monitoring this developing story and will update as more information is confirmed.
