Iran's foreign minister warns of retaliation: 'Any attack will be punished'

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned Wednesday that Iran would retaliate against any attack, after the United States struck targets in Iran in response to the downing of an Apache helicopter.

"Despite being defeated on the battlefield, the US has decided to test our resolve," Araghchi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"If you want safety, leave our region," he added. "The history of the Persian Gulf is full of accounts of the miserable fate that befell foreign invaders."

The US military had earlier claimed an Apache helicopter was shot down by Iranian forces and struck multiple targets around the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday in what it described as acts of self-defense.

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.