Axios reported on Wednesday that the US still had not determined whether Iran intentionally downed a US Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz before the US began bombing Iran on Tuesday night.
For its part, Iran never took credit for downing the Apache, and Iran’s deputy foreign minister denied that Tehran was behind the incident, though he acknowledged something could have happened unintentionally. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also hinted that the helicopter’s downing could have been unintentional.
“Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire,” Araghchi wrote on X. “To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave. We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too.”
Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire.
To reduce risk, best solution is for them to leave.
We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too. pic.twitter.com/5DDgHAscBj
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 9, 2026
Trump’s account of the incident also didn’t make much sense, as he claimed an Iranian drone ended up inside the cockpit between the two pilots, who were later rescued, but didn’t explode.
The Axios report, authored by Barak Ravid, said that while the downing of the Apache was the “trigger” of the US strikes, Trump had been growing frustrated by Iran not agreeing to his demands for a deal, suggesting he was looking for a pretext to bomb the country.
According to the US military, the two crew members of the US Apache helicopter, which was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz as part of the US enforcement of the blockade on Iranian ports, were rescued by an unmanned drone boat.
Trump on Wednesday expressed frustration with Iran, saying the country has “taken too long to negotiate a deal that would have been great for them, now they will have to pay the price,” and he ordered another round of strikes, as the region appears to have plunged back into full-scale war.
