Retaliatory strikes threaten to derail fragile peace talks

Tensions between Iran and the United States abruptly reignited on Tuesday after Washington blamed Tehran for downing a military helicopter, prompting retaliation from the Iranians and likely adding obstacles to ending the war amid weeks of deadlock.

US President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the "Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache helicopters" while it was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

"There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack," Trump said.

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The US Central Command said on X that forces began launching "self-defense strikes" against Iran at 5 pm on Tuesday at the commander in chief's direction, "in response to yesterday's downing of a US Army Apache helicopter".

"The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression," it said.

"CENTCOM forces struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets," it said.

"The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on US forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters."

Central Command said on Wednesday that it completed "self-defense strikes against Iran".

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that despite its "defeats on the battlefield", the US "opted to test our determination" as he warned that Iran's armed forces "will leave no attack or threat unanswered".

"Leave our region if you want to be safe. History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders," he said.

Araghchi held separate phone calls with his Turkish and Saudi counterparts reviewing the latest regional developments in the wake of US military strikes against areas in southern Iran.

The calls, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday, covered the rapidly evolving security situation following US aggression against Iranian territory, Iranian media reported.

Araghchi condemned the US military strikes as a violation of Iranian national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He underscored Iran's inherent right to self-defense and affirmed the legitimacy of the retaliatory response carried out by Iran's armed forces.

Violation of UN Charter

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned US strikes on southern Iran as a violation of the United Nations Charter, confirming that Iranian armed forces conducted retaliatory strikes on United States assets in the region.

In a statement published on Mehr News Agency, the ministry said the US carried out "savage attacks" against locations in southern Iran, using as a pretext the crash of the Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz on Monday night.

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The ministry also reminded regional countries, particularly those on the southern shore of the Gulf, of their legal and moral responsibility to prevent the US military and Israel from using their territory, facilities or logistics infrastructure to plan, organize, execute or support aggressive operations against Iran.

Elsewhere, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it struck a US airbase in Al-Azraq, Jordan, on Wednesday, hitting four key targets, including F-35 fighter shelters and a command-and-control center, with long-range solid-fuel missiles.

The IRGC added that it attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, while Kuwait also reported coming under Iranian attack.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com