(The Epoch Times)—President Donald Trump said Monday that the pilots of a U.S. military helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz are in safe condition.
Trump was responding to reports that a U.S. Army Apache helicopter had crashed near the Strait of Hormuz. The New York Times, which first reported the crash, said the helicopter’s two crew members had been rescued.
Speaking to reporters after attending the NBA finals in New York, Trump said the pilots were “fine” but did not give further details.
“Nobody [was] injured,” the president said at the airport. “We are going to issue a report tomorrow, but the pilots are fine.”
The circumstances surrounding the crash remain unclear. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil and gas shipments route, has seen significant disruptions due to the war in Iran.
Reports on the crash surfaced after Iran and Israel halted a renewed exchange of fire on June 8. Tehran warned that any further Israeli attacks would trigger a more severe response, while Israel said it would retaliate if Iran resumed attacks.
Trump told reporters on June 8 that negotiations with Iran were ongoing and there is a “good chance” of reaching a deal within “two or three days.”
“I think we’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said. “If we go and bomb, which we could do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing, they’ll have nothing left whatsoever. But you won’t have the strait open for months.”
The latest flare-up between Iran and Israel has threatened to complicate negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which Trump has repeatedly described as nearing a breakthrough despite months of conflict.
Iran’s Mahshahr petrochemical company was among those struck in Israel’s renewed attack. Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter has defended Israel’s military response and said Iran had fired 11 ballistic missiles toward Israel.
“Each one of those missiles can level an entire neighborhood and kill hundreds. No self-respecting country in the world would tolerate such an attack, and neither will Israel,” he said in a June 8 post on X.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on June 8 that the latest fighting would only worsen an already “chaotic diplomatic process” and said indirect contacts with Washington were taking place in an atmosphere of “extreme suspicion.”
Preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons has been a key focus of U.S. and Israeli military campaigns against Iran. Trump has said that the Iranian regime must not have nuclear weapon capabilities, while Iranian officials maintain that their uranium enrichment is for peaceful purposes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency last year declared Iran noncompliant and in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Tom Ozimek and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
