The US Central Command launched retaliatory strikes against Iranian military positions on June 9, following the downing of a US Army AH-64 Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz the previous day. The helicopter’s crew was rescued unharmed, but the geopolitical fallout is anything but contained.
What happened
On June 8, a US Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz. The downing was attributed to Iranian aggression.
The crew’s rescue was remarkable in its own right. An unmanned drone boat pulled both crew members from the water uninjured, marking what appears to be the first known sea rescue conducted entirely by an autonomous vessel.
By 5 p.m. ET on June 9, US Central Command had initiated what it described as self-defense strikes against Iranian military positions. President Donald Trump characterized the planned US response as “very strong, very powerful.”
