Tensions between the United States and Iran escalated sharply after both countries reported carrying out military strikes against each other’s targets following the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter, an incident that has raised fears of a broader regional conflict.
The United States said it launched military strikes against Iranian military infrastructure after Iran allegedly shot down a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), American forces began what it described as self-defense strikes at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on June 9 under the direction of the Commander in Chief. The operation was launched in response to the helicopter’s downing a day earlier.
CENTCOM said U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter aircraft used precision-guided munitions to strike Iranian air defense systems, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. military described the operation as a proportional response to recent Iranian actions, including attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial vessels operating in regional waters.
“The mission was a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” CENTCOM said, adding that the strikes were intended to reduce military capabilities linked to threats against U.S. personnel and maritime traffic.
The Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy shipping corridors, has become a focal point of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran in recent months.
Hours later, Iran announced what it said were retaliatory attacks on U.S. military bases in the region.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the country’s armed forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had carried out attacks against several U.S. bases following what Tehran described as American military aggression against Iran, Iranian state media reported.
It further reported that the headquarters said the United States had launched attacks on Iran “under the false pretext of the crash of its helicopter” and that, in response, the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IRGC had carried out a “powerful assault” on several U.S. bases in the region.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that the Strait of Hormuz is not international waters and warned foreign military forces near Iranian territory to leave the region.
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