US strikes Iran after Apache helicopter downed, Tehran targets Bahrain, Jordan

New Delhi: The United States carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Tuesday to avenge downing of an US air force Apache helicopter on Monday. This comes just a day after the US president, Donald Trump, had advised the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, not to target Tehran for its missile attacks on Israeli territory. The US said it completed a series of strikes against Iran, which retaliated to the American attacks, firing its drones and missiles at American targets in the Gulf region.

The US Central Command (Centcom) said it targeted Iranian air-defence systems, ground control stations, and radar sites in response to the downing of the USAF Apache attack helicopter. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) retaliated to the American missile strikes by firing at 21 targets on US military bases in the region. One base in Bahrain and another in Jordan were targeted, while the Kuwaiti army said it intercepted an Iranian attack.

Centcom said its response was “self-defence strikes” to the Apache downing. Bahrain reported an air raid alert and claimed it repelled the Iranian strikes. Jordan said its air defence intercepted five Iranian missiles. Centcom described its strikes on Iranian targets as “a proportionate response” for downing the Apache helicopter. The IRGC called the attacks “vicious”.

The Centcom rushed to rescue the two Apache pilots using a sea drone on Monday. This was the first time the US military publicly confirmed that a sea drone of this type was being used in a military operation. Centcom said its latest mission was “completed” in just over three hours, after it announced an initial wave of strikes in response to the Apache downing.

The US military said the Apache was hit by an Iranian drone. It was not clear if the Iranian drone had deliberately attacked the American military helicopter, media reports said. An Iranian newswire said Iran did not claim responsibility for the downed Apache. Centcom said its fighter aircraft “struck Iran” close to the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC said the American hits had damaged a telecommunications tower and two water tanks. The US also targeted Iranian cities Jask and Sirik, and Qeshem Island.

Trump said on Tuesday the downed Apache was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, a key narrow waterway in the Gulf region that has been under an Iranian blockade since February 28, when the latest West Asian conflict began. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” he said.

Iran’s retaliation for US strikes

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi threatened the US for its resumption of airstrikes on his nation, saying Iran “will leave no attack or threat unanswered”. “Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the US opted to test our determination,” Araghchi posted on X Tuesday. “Leave our region if you want to be safe,” he added. The Iranian foreign minister said foreign forces near Iran’s territory were at “constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents or potentially being caught in crossfire”. “To reduce risk, the best solution is for them to leave,” he posted.

Iran’s top negotiator in the peace talks and parliament speaker, Mohammad Ghalibaf, signalled the Iranian threat to the US forces in the Gulf region. He 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!”

The IRGC said it attacked the US fifth fleet in Bahran with drones. The Iranian elite force also claimed it hit an airbase in Jordan with missiles. The IRGC attacks were in response to the US airstrikes on Iran, it said. Hezbollah in Lebanon said it joined the US-Iran fight by firing a series of drone, missile, and rocket attacks on the Israeli military overnight on Monday. The Iran-supported armed group said its forces repeatedly targeted the Israeli military positions in Lebanon.

The latest US-Iran flare-up in the Gulf came on the day Trump had threatened to abandon Israel if it retaliated to Iranian missile attacks on its territory, and forcefully asked Netanyahu to stop his missile attacks on Iran. Trump had claimed then that he got calls from five Gulf nations to urge Netanyahu to stop the fighting and expressed confidence in a peace deal with Iran happening soon. However, the downing of the Apache helicopter hurt Trump so much that he directly called for retaliatory airstrikes on Iran, thus not adhering to the advice he provided Netanyahu earlier.