US strikes Iran after Trump blames Tehran for downing Army helicopter

The United States launched airstrikes on Iran on Wednesday after President Donald Trump blamed Tehran for the downing of a US Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has vowed to respond, escalating the latest tensions in West Asia that could threaten a fragile ceasefire that took effect on April 8, AP reported.

The US military's Central Command said that the “self-defence strikes” began at 5pm US time at Trump's direction.

“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” the US military agency said.

Trump had earlier claimed in a social media post that Iran shot down the aircraft while it was patrolling the strait and said that the US “must, of necessity, respond to this attack”.

The downing of the Apache attack helicopter and the US strikes came a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time since the ceasefire took effect.

On Monday, Trump had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel could lose American support if it continued to attack Lebanon and Iran.

The warning had come after Israeli strikes on military targets in western and central Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s missile strike on the country.

Both Israel and Iran signalled on Monday that they would pause the attacks. The Iranian military’s joint command said Monday that...

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