Trump says pilots are fine after US helicopter crashes near Strait of Hormuz

A US Army Apache attack helicopter has crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, with President Donald Trump saying the two crew members on board were “fine” after the incident involving the strategic waterway, which remains under a chokehold by Iran.

What caused the crash remained unclear on Tuesday morning in the Middle East, which was still reeling after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the biggest blow yet to the straining ceasefire in the Iran war.

Iranian state media, relying on foreign reporting, acknowledged the crash without elaborating.

Since the US and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive.

Officials have been unable to turn the April ceasefire into a deal to permanently end the conflict.

Mr Trump, speaking to journalists at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York after watching the NBA Finals on Monday night, acknowledged the crash.

“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” he said.

“Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”

The New York Times first reported that a US Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the strait.

The crash happened about 3.30am local time on Tuesday off the coast of Oman while on a patrol, the US military’s Central Command said in a later statement. It said the crew had been rescued within two hours and were in a stable condition.

AH-64 Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal.

The helicopters have also been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones during the Iran war.

If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t

Mr Trump also expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran.

“We have a good chance” of signing a deal in “two or three days”, the president said.

But he did not provide any details on why there was reason for new optimism.

“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” Mr Trump said.

“If we go and bomb – which we could do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing – they’ll have nothing left whatsoever. But you won’t have the strait open for months.”

He added: “If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”

Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to get a deal across the line.

However, both Iran and the US have taken hard-line positions.

The US wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed still to be entombed in the country after American air strikes in the 12-day war in 2025.

But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions.

It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Mr Trump.

Before Mr Trump’s comments on negotiations, Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on Monday that Mr Trump’s remarks so far on a possible deal “contradicted the agreed-upon sections, showing that (the US is) neither seeking a ceasefire nor dialogue”.

The continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remains a major Iranian priority as well.

Lebanon’s army chief, General Rodolphe Haykal, travelled to Pakistan on Tuesday. There, he met Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has been a key figure in the Iran-US talks.

Mr Haykal’s visit comes as Lebanon’s government takes an increasingly hard line on Hezbollah, but remains unable to disarm the powerful militia.

Hezbollah thanked Iran on Tuesday for attacking Israel “in defence of our Lebanese people”, suggesting that the Lebanese government should take this opportunity to improve relations with Tehran.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Lebanon’s southern port city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, which has so far been spared in the destructive air strikes on the port city.

Last week, Israel warned the Christian neighbourhoods in Tyre that it believed Hezbollah members were among them.

Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas as Israeli strikes hammered the Mediterranean coastal area over the past two weeks.

After last week’s warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area.

But Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, posted on X on Monday that the Israeli military “will have to act against their terrorist activities in the neighbourhood soon”.