Trump says Iran shot down US helicopter and vows to respond

President Donald Trump has accused Iran of shooting down a US helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz and vowed to respond to the attack out of "necessity".

Two crew members of the Apache helicopter that crashed following the attack were rescued by an American sea drone, US officials confirmed to the BBC.

"There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured," the president wrote on Truth Social. "Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack."

This is first loss of an Apache since the conflict with Iran began and comes after Trump earlier said Washington was in "the final throes" of a deal with Tehran to end the regional conflict.

US Central Command (Centcom) earlier said the two "soldiers were safely rescued within approximately two hours and are in stable condition" after their AH-64 Apache helicopter went down "near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters".

"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 wrote on social media on Tuesday.

It is not immediately clear what that response will be.

Minutes before Trump's remarks, Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf , posted on social media: "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!".

In its statement on Tuesday, Centcom said the two crew members had been rescued at 19:33 EDT (23:33 GMT) on Monday.

"Rescue efforts were led by US Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from US Air Force and Navy units including US 5th Fleet's Task Force 59," the statement added.

The two US Army soldiers on the Apache had been patrolling waters off the coast of Oman when the crash happened. They were rescued at about 19:30 EST on Monday, "within approximately two hours" of their AH-64 Apache going down.

A spokesman for Centcom told the BBC that the crew members were rescued by an uncrewed surface drone that was operated by Task Force 59 - a Bahrain-based unit that launched in 2024 to focusing on "the operational deployment of unmanned systems teamed with manned operators to bolster maritime security across the Middle East region".