Trump says pilots safe after U.S. helicopter crashes near Hormuz

A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, and President Donald Trump said the two crew members aboard were not injured after the incident near one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” Trump told reporters at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after attending the NBA Finals on Monday night. “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”

NBC News reported that the helicopter went down Monday while flying over the Strait of Hormuz. NPR, citing reporting from The Associated Press, described the crash as occurring near the strait. The New York Times first reported that the Apache went down in unclear circumstances. The cause remained unknown Tuesday morning, and the U.S. military’s Central Command and the Defense Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the AP, NPR reported.

The incident occurred as the Strait of Hormuz remains a flashpoint in the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. The narrow waterway, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes, has remained virtually closed since the start of the war amid Iran’s blockade, NBC News reported.

On Monday, the Council of the European Union alleged that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy “undermines freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz by enforcing a toll system and by threatening, harassing, and attacking multiple commercial vessels in the region.”

NPR reported that the Middle East was still reeling Tuesday after Iran and Israel exchanged fire the previous day in the biggest blow yet to the strained ceasefire in the Iran war. Iranian state media acknowledged the helicopter crash while relying on foreign reporting and did not elaborate, according to NPR.

Since the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28, the war has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices worldwide and made basic goods, including food, more expensive, NPR reported. Officials have not been able to turn the April ceasefire into a permanent deal to end the conflict.

Apache helicopters have been a key tool for the U.S. military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers to pressure Tehran into an agreement, NPR reported. The helicopters also have been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones during the war.

Trump also said a potential agreement with Iran could be close. Speaking before boarding Air Force One early Tuesday, he said, “We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape or form nuclear weapons.”

“The strait will open up right away,” Trump added. “It’ll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days.”

Trump told reporters the United States had “a good chance” of signing a deal in “two or three days,” but NPR reported that he did not give details explaining the new optimism. He also said, “We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal.”

“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,” Trump said. “But you won’t have the strait open for months.” He added: “If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”

Mediators, led predominantly by Pakistan, have been trying for weeks to secure an agreement, NPR reported, but the United States and Iran have maintained hard-line positions. The U.S. wants Iran to give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while Iran is demanding sanctions relief and the release of frozen assets before a final agreement, a step Trump has rejected, according to NPR.