US helicopter crew who went down in Strait of Hormuz rescued by drone
Why this matters: local context for readers following news across Pakistan and the region.
United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that two US helicopter crew members were “fine” following their rescue by a US Navy drone after their Apache gunship went down in the Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz. The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) said the AH-64 Apache went down at around 3am local time on Tuesday (4am PKT) near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters. It gave no reason for the crash. The pair were rescued within about two hours and were in stable condition, Centcom said. Centcom told Reuters the rescue was carried out by a drone but did not specify the model. It was not immediately clear whether the Apache had been shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure, or encountered another problem. Asked if he knew what had brought the helicopter down, Trump said a report would be issued later on Tuesday. “The pilots are fine,” Trump said, speaking on the runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport before returning to Washington, DC. “Nobody injured.” The incident happened a day after Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other following an appeal from Trump, though Tehran warned it would resume hostilities if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon. The resumption of the tenuous ceasefire comes as Washington tries to reach an agreement with Tehran to end their more than three-month-old war. Trump also told reporters he could have “an idea” for an Iran deal within a few days, without elaborating. The Republican president, struggling with record-low approval ratings ahead of November midterm elections, has often hinted at an imminent deal with Tehran, but none has yet eventuated. The weekend saw the most direct confrontation between Iran and Israel since a ceasefire in April. Tehran had fired missiles towards Israeli territory late on Sunday, calling the strikes retaliation for attacks on the outskirts of Beirut. Israel then hit Iranian air defence systems and a petrochemical plant that it cl