U.S. Strikes Iranian Targets After Helicopter Crash in Strait of Hormuz
A U.S. Apache helicopter crashed with an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The White House said it had not determined whether Iran intentionally brought down the helicopter and carried out strikes on military facilities.
indiatoday.intoday.inA U.S. Apache helicopter crashed with an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz. The White House said it had not determined whether Iran intentionally brought down the helicopter. Several hours before the strikes, the White House sent messages to Iranian officials stating that only military facilities would be targeted.
Officials added that the United States still needed to respond to demonstrate it would not accept Iranian actions in the strait.
Background to the Incident The helicopter incident occurred against the backdrop of prolonged negotiations. After a May 29 Situation Room meeting, President Trump requested two amendments to a draft memorandum of understanding. The amendments required Iran to agree to down-blend its enriched uranium within 60 days and commit not to toll ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
In return, the United States was prepared to allow the down-blending to occur on Iranian soil under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision.
Saturday a regional mediator informed other parties that an Iranian reply had been sent to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei for approval and was expected by Sunday. Nearly two weeks passed without a formal answer. Around the same period, Israel struck Beirut, Iran launched a missile attack on Israel, and Israel retaliated with strikes on Tehran.
Two regional sources said the escalation made Iranian officials wary of appearing to submit to Israeli pressure by reaching an agreement with the United States. On Wednesday, Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran for further talks. U.S. officials had already held parallel discussions with the mediators in Doha over the previous two days.
The Qataris attempted to arrange a trilateral meeting but the Iranians declined.
President Trump said Wednesday that further strikes would follow. A U.S. official said the White House had warned Iranian counterparts that "time was running out" and that the Iranians replied they did not yet have an answer while cautioning they would respond to any attack.
