U.S. Strikes Targets in Iran After Apache Helicopter Is Downed in the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced overnight (between Tuesday and Wednesday, Israel time) that it had carried out a series of strikes on targets in Iran. The statement said: "We have begun conducting self-defense strikes against Iran, in accordance with the order of the commander in chief, in response to the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter yesterday. The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression." Against the backdrop of these developments, Trump spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Iran activated air defense systems and anti-aircraft weapons and reported explosions at the port in Bandar Abbas, in Sirik, in Qeshm, and in Hormozgan. As part of the strikes, about 20 targets were hit in three separate waves. The targets included air defense arrays, radar stations, as well as communications, command, and control facilities.

In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed they had attacked Al-Azraq base in Jordan, and said, "We destroyed 21 targets, including hangars for F-35 aircraft." They also claimed that strikes were carried out against Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait, as well as against targets in Bahrain.

Jordan’s military confirmed that its air defense systems intercepted five ballistic missiles overnight that were launched from Iran toward Al-Azraq base in the eastern part of the country. According to the Jordanian military statement, there were no casualties and no damage to the facility, though interception debris fell in the area. A senior American official told Reuters that nearly all the missiles and drones launched by Iran at American targets in Gulf states and Jordan were intercepted.

Iranian media reported before the strike that the country had raised its military alert level, out of concern over an American attack. Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the National Security Committee in the Iranian parliament, threatened the U.S.: "If America wants to respond to the downing of the helicopter, it should consider our response a closed matter."

Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States would respond to the downing of the American helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian source told media outlets in Tehran that the entire Iranian axis had received instructions from Iran to prepare for an attack. This includes Hezbollah, Iraq, Yemen, and Hamas. 

The source said: "We are monitoring every American movement ahead of an attack on our country. We repeat and say: any small attack will lead to a major attack against Israel and the U.S. without mercy."

Rezaei added in a post he published: "We kiss the hands of that fighter who, in the Strait of Hormuz, downed an American helicopter and delivered another slap to the devil. We will honor him as a hero." A senior Iranian official told Qatar’s Al Jazeera network that "the American Apache helicopter was not flying over international waters. We will respond forcefully and immediately to any American strike against Iran."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi published a statement saying, "Foreign forces near our territory face constant risks because of their own human errors or accidents. The best solution is for them to leave. We prefer the language of diplomacy, but we also speak other languages."

Meanwhile, Kurdish networks in Iraq reported explosions near the American "Victory" base in the Baghdad area. In addition, sites belonging to the Kurdish opposition were attacked in Erbil province in northern Iraq. 

Reuters reported that drones struck camps belonging to Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups in northern Iraq. At the same time, it was reported that at least four Iranian ballistic surface-to-surface missiles hit several Kurdish targets, causing fatalities.