US launches retaliatory strikes on Iran; explosions reported near Strait of Hormuz

The US military announced Tuesday it had launched what it called a self-defense strike against Iran, as explosions were reported across the Strait of Hormuz, including near Iran's Sirik Island, according to Reuters and other international media. The already fragile truce between the United States and Iran now faces another serious test.

US Central Command said on its X account that, "at the direction of the commander in chief, President Donald Trump," it had begun "a self-defense strike against Iran" starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday — 6 a.m. Korean Standard Time Wednesday.

CENTCOM said the strike was "in response to the shootdown of a US Army Apache helicopter on Tuesday," adding that "this operation is a proportional response to Iran's unjustifiable act of aggression."

Trump was on a phone call with an ABC News reporter when the retaliatory strikes began. He was quoted as saying, "I believe the response has to be very powerful and forceful. This is that."

The US Army Apache helicopter was shot down by an Iranian drone strike while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz the previous night. Trump said both pilots were safely rescued.

Before the strikes began, Trump had signaled retaliation was coming, writing on his Truth Social account that "the United States has no choice but to respond to this attack."

The method, scale and targets of the retaliatory strike have not been fully disclosed. The use of the phrase "self-defense" suggests the strikes may have targeted Iranian military installations — such as drone launch facilities — used in the Apache attack.

The strikes appear to have been carried out in the area around the Strait of Hormuz.

According to CNN, Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency reported explosions in Sirik, a coastal city in southern Iran, as well as in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz.

Washington has repeatedly said that recent limited engagements with Iran were self-defense strikes targeting Iranian radar and drone facilities in response to Iranian aggression.

Because the US has characterized the operation as a "proportional response," it is widely expected to have been limited in scope — calibrated to avoid derailing the ongoing end-of-war negotiations between the two sides.

In the same ABC interview, Trump also said, "We have a very good deal, and probably going forward" — a remark widely interpreted as a signal that he does not want the dispute over the downed helicopter to collapse the current negotiating framework.

Whether the conflict escalates will depend largely on how Iran chooses to respond.

After Trump signaled retaliation, Iranian state media, citing Iranian sources, reported that if the United States resumed hostilities over the helicopter incident, Iran would respond decisively.

Even if the US strike remains limited, any Iranian counter-attack could raise the level of armed conflict in the Strait of Hormuz and push the truce — in place since early April — to yet another breaking point.