US, Iran trade strikes after downing of Apache helicopter: What to know
The US military is exploiting opportunities to weaken Iran’s defenses around the Strait of Hormuz, without White House approval for a full-scale operation at this time.
WASHINGTON — US Navy and Air Force fighter jets bombed air defense batteries, coastal surveillance radars and ground control centers in southern Iran along the Strait of Hormuz overnight in response to the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter on Monday, the Pentagon’s Middle East headquarters said.
The airstrikes on more than 20 sites in Iran came after US President Donald Trump vowed a response to the downing of the Apache. A US official said the helicopter crashed after it was struck by an Iranian drone over the strait on Monday.
Explosions were reported in Bandar Abbas, Jask and Kuh-e Mubarak, as well as on the island of Qeshm in the strait, according to local reports. US Central Command called the overnight strikes “a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.”
Why it matters: The targets of the latest strikes suggest that the US military is taking advantage of the tit-for-tat incidents to chip away at what remains of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' ability to threaten shipping in the strait and defend its southern coastline.
