Trump accuses Iran of shooting down a US helicopter in Hormuz and warns he will respond

BarcelonaThe President of the United States, Donald Trump, has accused Iran of shooting down an American helicopter patrolling the Strait of Hormuz and has promised to respond. "Our Great Military just informed me that the Iranian, in the NOI night, shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling the Strait of Hormuz," he wrote in a post on his social network, Truth Social, and warned that "the United States must necessarily respond to this attack."

The two American pilots, who were traveling in an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter of the army, are safe and sound, according to the president. The aircraft crashed near the coast of Oman around three in the morning on Tuesday (local time), and two hours later the soldiers were rescued by a naval unit specialized in unmanned drones. The U.S. Army Central Command has remained more cautious. It has limited itself to reporting the rescue and has assured that they are investigating the incident, but has not provided details of the causes.

Iran has not confirmed responsibility for the events nor has it addressed the incident directly. However, in clear reference to the White House's accusations, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has recommended that foreign forces near Iranian territory leave if they do not want to be at risk. Otherwise, they will be "at constant risk due to their own human errors, simple accidents, or the possibility of being caught in friendly fire," the Iranian leader assured. Similarly, he insisted that the Strait of Hormuz is not international waters, but shared territory between Iran and Oman. "It is thousands of kilometers from the U.S. coasts. The maritime borders are very clear," he concluded.

The American threat, which further fuels doubts about the viability of the ceasefire, comes as Israel has renewed attacks against Lebanon, ignoring Iran's warnings. On Monday, the crossfire between Tehran and Tel Aviv, who attacked each other directly for the first time since April, shook the ceasefirehave exchanged the crudest insultsLess than 24 hours later, the Israeli army has tested Iran's patience and launched several projectiles across the country, leaving at least 29 dead, according to health authorities. The most potent offensive was against a residential neighborhood in the historic city of Tyre, one of the largest in the country and one of the oldest in the world. Nine people died and dozens more were injured, including two paramedics, in what is already the deadliest offensive in the city since the start of the war.

Shortly before, the Israeli army had issued evacuation orders for different areas of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which it claims it will attack "soon." Tel Aviv accuses Hezbollah militants of hiding in this area and, under this pretext, urged the city's Christians to demand that the militia leave if they did not want to be forced to leave. Hundreds of residents have fled during the day today, and civil defense teams have relocated the most vulnerable people to temporary shelters.

Doctors Without Borders has expressed concern about this practice – forcing the population to leave their homes under threat of bombardment – which it considers constitutes "forced displacement." "[These actions] Expose people to further harm by forcing them to move in unsafe and chaotic conditions," the organization denounces. The Israeli offensive has also forced the NGO to suspend activities in several nearby hospitals and in some of the mobile clinics it has deployed in the city.

On the other hand, the attacks have caused damage to buildings, businesses, and sites of great historical relevance. In fact, Unesco has issued an alert because up to three protected sites have been severely damaged by the impact of Israeli projectiles, despite having reinforced protection: the archaeological site of Tyre – declared a World Heritage Site –, Beaufort Castle, and the Shamaa citadel. Therefore, the United Nations agency denounces that "cultural heritage is also threatened by war."

In addition to archaeological remains of great value, Tyre hosts three Palestinian refugee camps of UNRWA and many other people who have fled from other towns in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army already occupies the territory that extends to the south of the Litani River. The normality of all these vulnerable people has been completely interrupted. As Unesco has recalled, seventeen schools have been destroyed and more than a hundred have been damaged. In addition, the war has forced nearly half a million children to abandon classrooms and more than a million have dropped out of school.

Israel warns of another hard blow

Precisely the trickle of Iranian projectiles into Lebanon – which has left almost 4,000 dead since March – has derailed the negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the conflict. And it has also been a cause of discord between Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, who have exchanged the crudest insults of their celebrated friendship. But not even the harsh words of the American president seem to curb Israel's intentions. The head of the Israeli army's general staff, General Eyal Zamir, stated this Tuesday that the attack Israel carried out on Sunday against Iran was only the "preamble to a much more significant blow". "We are prepared to return and perpetrate another serious and far-reaching attack against Iran," the military man said during a visit to a training center, who also boasted about his troops' operations in Lebanon.

In parallel, Iranian media report that Israeli attacks on Monday against Iran killed two Iranian air defense soldiers, Bahman Hosseini and Alireza Abiri, who will be buried this Tuesday in the capital. The two commanders, who were "carrying out their duties" when they died, are the first military casualties recorded in Monday's attacks.