US Apache helicopter ‘goes down’ near Strait of Hormuz with crew members rescued

The Strait of Hormuz has remained a persistent source of tension in the US–Iran conflict.

Speaking to journalists after Monday night’s NBA Finals, where he received a frosty reception, the US President said: “The pilots are fine. Yeah.

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

An Army Apache helicopter gunship went down on Monday, June 8. Fortunately, both crew members were safely rescued, The New York Times reported, citing two people briefed on the incident.

However, the report added that it remains unclear whether the helicopter was shot down or experienced a mechanical problem.

Back in April, Iran shot down a US Air Force F-15 Eagle, which led to an intense manhunt for the pilot and navigator of the aircraft. Both of them were rescued.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a point of contention in the US-Iran war, which followed joint US-Israeli strikes on several key Iranian sites on February 28.

Iran then retaliated by closing the critical waterway and striking sites across the region.

The US then implemented a blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait in an effort to pressure the peace talks and lift the Iranian closure.

The two sides have maintained a fragile ceasefire since April, but tensions between Iran and Israel escalated sharply at the start of the week.

Reports of the helicopter going down followed shortly after Iran said it had ended attacks against Israel after both sides exchanged fire in the biggest escalation since the US-Iran truce in April.

On Monday, just hours later, Trump said that his country will declare "total victory" over Iran in two weeks.

"You're really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory," Trump said.

"It will be a total victory, and it will happen very soon."