Overview
- U.S. Central Command said President Donald Trump ordered precision strikes on Iranian air‑defense, radar and command sites as a proportional self‑defense response that hit nearly 20 targets over about four hours.
- Hours after the Apache was downed, U.S. officials said a Pentagon assessment found an Iranian one‑way attack drone struck the helicopter and that the two crew members were rescued by a U.S. unmanned surface vessel and are in stable condition.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reported retaliatory strikes on U.S. bases in Jordan, Bahrain and other Gulf locations and claimed attacks on 21 targets, while regional air defenses and Gulf states said they intercepted most incoming missiles and drones with no immediate U.S. casualties reported.
- The exchange of strikes and counterstrikes threatens to derail near‑final negotiations to turn the April 8 ceasefire into a lasting settlement and comes alongside renewed Israeli operations in southern Lebanon that further strain diplomatic efforts.
- The conflict’s focus on the Strait of Hormuz has already squeezed commercial shipping and pushed up oil prices, and investigators, diplomats and markets will watch for further attacks, turnout of air‑defense reports, and whether talks between Washington and Tehran can resume.