Iran strikes American bases after U.S. attacks over helicopter crash

Iran struck U.S. targets across the Middle East after American forces launched attacks over the downing of a U.S. Army helicopter that was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz.

Two people are missing after a fire broke out in the engine room of a tanker northeast of Sohar, Oman, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said today.

It did not say what might have caused the blaze or provide further details on the those unnaccounted for.

Authorities were still investigating the matter, but no environmental impact had been reported, according to the organization which is run by the Royal Navy and helps to protect commercial shipping in high-risk areas.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a U.S.-backed resolution on Wednesday telling Iran to declare its remaining enriched uranium stocks and let inspectors verify them, which could complicate Washington’s talks with Tehran.

The move came within hours of the U.S. and Iran trading military strikes after President Donald Trump said Iran had downed a U.S. Apache helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz.

Israeli and U.S. attacks in June of last year destroyed or badly damaged Iranian uranium-enrichment plants but much of the enriched uranium they produced, including material close to weapons-grade, is thought to have survived.

Iran still has not informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of the fate of that material, or let IAEA inspectors return to the bombed sites to check. The U.S. led the push for the resolution, but Iran has called it “whitewashing military aggression,” since inspectors had access before the strikes.

The resolution text submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany was passed with 21 votes in favor, three against and 10 abstentions, diplomats at the closed-door meeting said. The countries opposing were Russia, China and Niger, they said, adding that Venezuela was not allowed to take part.

Israeli attacks on Syria and Lebanon also threaten Turkey, the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned today.

Calling for an end to Israeli aggression, Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party he wanted “everyone to know ​that if the ⁠rights of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots are violated in the Eastern Mediterranean, our response will be very clear and ​very strong,” according to Reuters.

Urging world powers to ⁠take a clearer stance, Erdogan said Israel was ⁠emboldened by the “silence of international community.”

“Pulling Israel back to within the bounds of ‌the rule of ​law has become a shared duty ‌not just for certain countries, ​but for all of humanity,” he added.

A team of investigators will be sent to Lebanon week to assess possible violations of international law in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the U.N.'s human rights chief announced today.

Volker Türk said the probe would look at potential "violations by all parties," according to Reuters, adding the investigation would document its efforts and a report was expected to follow.

It comes as Israel ramped up its operations in southern Lebanon, ordering evacuations in the city of Tyre.

Around 1 million people have been displaced within Lebanon amid Israel's offensive, which it says aims to root out the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

The U.N. has also warned that nearly one in four people in Lebanon could face crisis and emergency levels of food security until August as a result of the crisis.

The Kremlin is “extremely concerned” by the latest round of fighting between the U.S. and Iran, according to Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministray.

Accusing the U.S. and Israel of unprovoked aggression against Iran, Zakharova said Moscow was calling on “both sides to exercise restraint and to immediately cease military attacks.”

Her came after Trump issued a fresh threat against Iran, warning it would pay a price after failing to reach a peace deal to end the war the U.S. and Israel began in late February.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud party has said he will run in the country's upcoming elections after President Trump cast doubts on whether he would seek re-election.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu will run in the upcoming elections — and with God’s help, he will win,” the party said in a statement, according to The Times of Israel.

It comes after Trump told ABC News he didn't know whether Netanyahu would run in the upcoming elections, which are due to take place before Oct. 27.

“I don’t know, he’s had an amazing career,” the president said, according to a post on X by ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, who spoke to Trump by phone. According to Karl, he continued: “Does he want to continue? Because, you know, he’s a wartime prime minister. We will very shortly win the war one way or the other, and you know he’s a wartime prime minister.”

According to Karl, Trump added: "That's okay, just like I'm a wartime president."

A coalition of North American and European nations, along with Australia, have issued a joint statement condemning what they described as "Iranian threat activity" in their regions.

In the statement, the countries came together to condemn "lethal plotting and other malign actions" in their regions by Iran.

"We stand united in our determination to protect our countries and our people against these threats," they said, adding: "The Islamic Republic of Iran must halt these actions now."

The signatories condemned threats against "Iranian dissidents, journalists and Jewish and Israeli communities and interests," as well as a "recent campaign of attacks across Europe "targeting Jewish communities, Iranian journalists, and U.S. interests claimed by pro-Iranian Islamist group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya and supported by their intermediaries. "

The signatories said the relationship between the Iranian security services and international and local criminal groups was "long-standing" and that the use of such groups was "deplorable."

The joint statement was released by the governments of the U.S., U.K., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal and Sweden.

A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran today for talks, including on the latest diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war with the U.S. and Israel, Iranian state media reported.

The delegation was reported to have arrived prior to Trump's today threatening that Tehran would pay for failing to reach a peace deal with Washington amid ongoing negotiation efforts.

Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency said regional developments and bilateral issues would be discussed during the talks following the Qatari delegation's arrival, with the discussions sure to center around Trump's latest threat.

Trump told Fox News in a phone interview that he was close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges, Fox News reporter Trey Yingst said on “Fox & Friends.”

“He says the bully of the Middle East is dead, and he told me, 'I may keep going,'” Yingst said.

“The president said they had a chance to sign a deal and survive, indicating again that he may order new strikes against the Iranian regime in response to their dragging their feet at the negotiating table again,” Yingst added.

Trump also detailed the incident that led to the U.S. military helicopter going down near Oman earlier this week. The president said that an Iranian drone lodged between the two U.S. pilots, adding that the drone did not explode. Yesterday he said Iran "shot down" the helicopter.

A U.S. official told NBC News an Iranian drone collided with the Apache, causing it to crash.

“At any moment it could have exploded, the president told me, and he said it was on fire,” Yingst said.

“There was a lot of heat inside the cockpit of this helicopter, and ultimately these two pilots were able to take it down into the sea, where ultimately they were rescued for the first time in U.S. military history by an unmanned sea drone.”

Iranians were pictured in Tehran today among displays of nationalism, as the country traded new strikes with the U.S.

The price of oil, after trading flat all morning, sharply rose 2% after Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran has been too slow to negotiate a deal to end the war and will "pay the price."

U.S. crude oil rose past $90, while international Brent rose to more than $93 per barrel.

The United States announced it retaliated to Iran’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter by attacking Iranian air defense, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims it returned fired with 21 attacks against U.S. military targets across the Middle East.

After the U.S. struck Iran and it responded overnight, stock futures were down sharply in early trading. S&P 500 futures were set to drop 1%, Nasdaq 100 futures were tumbling 1.3% and Dow futures fell 460 points.

European markets were also lower in late morning trading. Germany's flagship DAX stock index was down 0.8%, while the United Kingdom's FTSE benchmark was down 0.6%. Spain's IBEX index also fell 0.5%.

Meanwhile, the price of oil, which has been volatile in recent days, was flat.

Trump's threat that Iran will have to "pay the price" after taking "too long" to agree to a peace deal has cast fresh uncertainty on negotiations to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz .

The president's post on Truth Social this morning, in which he proclaimed that the “Bully of the Middle East is DEAD," marks a dramatic shift in tone from the optimism he expressed just days ago when he said a deal with Tehran was only days, if not hours, away.

“We’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump said yesterday morning of talks to end the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.

It's unclear whether the president's latest threat constitutes a shift in position over the delay and the downing of a U.S. military helicopter, or whether it is simply his latest bid to force concessions from Iran in negotiations.

Iran has taken "too long" to agree to a deal "that would have been great for them" and will now "have to pay the price," President Trump has said in a Truth Social post just now.

His came after the U.S. and Iran traded attacks after the president accused Tehran of downing a military helicopter.

"Iran is all talk and no action," Trump said in the post, calling the Islamic Republic's military a "complete and total mess."

"The Bully of the Middle East is DEAD!!!" he wrote in the post.

The U.S. airstrikes on Iran yesterday targeted Iranian ground control stations and surveillance radar sites that help it launch missiles and drones, as well as its air defense systems at Iranian coastal military sites along and in the Strait of Hormuz, a U.S. official said.

The roughly 20 targets were at sites in Qeshm Island, Goruk, Bandar Abbas, Jask and more.

Most were locations that the U.S. has targeted before.

Iran launched multiple missiles and drones last night, targeting locations in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, according to a U.S. official, and many of the missiles were targeting U.S. personnel and bases housing Americans.

Most were intercepted, according to ongoing assessments. The U.S. official said they had no reports of harm to any U.S. personnel and were not aware of any damage to U.S. locations at this time.

The U.S. military struck approximately 20 targets inside Iran in retaliation for an Iranian drone that struck a U.S. Apache helicopter, causing it to crash.

Around 20,000 Iranians have lost access to drinking water after two reservoirs were reportedly struck in U.S. strikes, according to the Iranian judiciary’s official news agency, Mizan.

The news agency reported the development after Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, CEO of Hormozgan Province Water and Wastewater Co., said two concrete water storage reservoirs had been hit in Sirik county.

Mizan reported that with high temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit, conditions for residents had "become extremely difficult and critical."

Hamzehpour had earlier told state-run IRIB news agency that teams were working to implement alternative measures to ensure access to drinking water.

Oil stockpiles in some of the world’s wealthiest countries have fallen to their lowest levels since 2003, according to the U.S. Energy Department’s forecasting arm.

The Energy Information Administration said in a news release yesterday that oil inventories in the 38 wealthy nations that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Israel, France, Britain and South Korea, were at their lowest levels in more than two decades.

It further warned that global oil inventories were expected to fall by 6.3 million barrels per day this quarter and by another 7.6 million in the third quarter.

The EIA said global oil demand in 2026 was falling by 1.1 million barrels per day compared with last year, but was expected to increase by 2.5 million in 2027 as oil prices decline and oil production in the Middle East gradually rises.

Ripple effects from the Iran war are increasing the risks of acute hunger for millions of people around the world, acting World Food Programme Executive Director Carl Skau has warned.

“In many places, we’re already taking from the hungry to give to the starving,” Skau said in an interview with CNN , with the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the war sending energy prices — and in turn, the cost of food around the world — soaring.

"When the price of food goes up 20-30%, well, they eat 20-30% less," he said of communities that WFP serves. The organization had warned in March that 45 million more people would face acute hunger by July if the price of oil remained above $100 a barrel, with Skau saying the WFP was now seeing the impact of the continued rise in fuel prices on the ground in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka.

The WFP also relies on donations from governments to operate, with a drop in donations, including from its top donor, the United States, also having a devastating impact on its operations around the world.

Kuwait's military said this morning that it had intercepted "hostile aerial targets" as Iran launched attacks targeting U.S. sites in the region in response to American strikes.

"The General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army announces that Kuwaiti air defense systems are currently intercepting hostile aerial targets in accordance with approved operational procedures," the military said in a post on X this morning.

It urged residents to follow security and safety instructions issued by authorities and to obtain updates from official sources.

China is “deeply concerned the current situation in Iran,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said today before he called for a diplomatic resolution of the dispute.

All parties should “remain calm and exercise restraint,” he told reporters at a regular news briefing, adding that they should “stop escalating tensions.”

Iran will "need to assess the situation" after overnight U.S. strikes before it can move forward with peace talks, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said today.

“Diplomacy does not occur in a vacuum,” Esmail Baghaei told the the hard-line Student News Network, before accusing the U.S. of harming the diplomatic process "through contradictory messages, repeated shifts in its positions and demands and continual violations" of its ceasefire with Tehran.

He also accused Israel of “undermining the process” through its ramped-up military operations in Lebanon. Israel has said it is rooting out the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group based in its northern neighbor.

Baghaei said that in order to move forward with any negotiations, there must be “at least a minimal environment in which diplomacy can function.”

Two water storage tanks were hit by U.S. strikes launched in response to the downing of an American military helicopter, Iran has said.

In a statement posted on X this morning, Iran’s consulate in Mumbai, India, said the strikes on Sirik county, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province had cut off access to drinking water for local residents.

“Targeting civilian water infrastructure raises serious humanitarian concerns,” it said.

In separate , Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, the CEO of Hormozgan Province Water and Wastewater Co., said that critical water distribution infrastructure in Sirik county had been “targeted,” including two reservoirs key to supplying drinking water to the county.

He told the state-run IRIB news agency that teams were working to implement alternative measures to ensure a stable water supply.

Bahrain's military said this morning it had "confronted, intercepted and destroyed" a number of aerial attacks from Iran.

Calling the attacks "heinous," the General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force said in a post on X that Iran had continued "its systematic hostile approach" using missiles and drones to attack Bahrain.

It said that its own weapons and military units were "at the highest levels of readiness and are on high alert to protect the Kingdom."

No injuries were reported in connection with the attacks.

The Israeli military issued fresh evacuation warnings in southern Lebanon this morning, ordering residents of the villages of Ghassaniyeh and Houmine al-Faouqa to flee the area.

The Israel Defense Forces did not give a clear reason for targeting the two villages, but said that it had been "compelled to act" against Hezbollah.

"To ensure your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and stay away from the villages and towns for a distance of no less than 1000 meters to open areas," it warned residents.

The two villages are the latest areas to be evacuated following a ramping up of Israeli operations in southern Lebanon.

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S.'s military strikes this morning, accusing Washington of using the downed Apache helicopter "as a pretext" to launch the attacks.

The ministry said it believed the attacks were a "flagrant violation" of the United Nations charter, adding that Iranian armed forces struck U.S. bases and assets in the region in response.

It comes after the U.S. launched strikes on Iran after Trump accused Tehran of shooting down a military helicopter, with both soldiers onboard rescued by an unmanned boat.

Iran has not taken responsibility for the incident. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Tehran would "not hesitate to exercise its inherent right of self-defence, including by targeting the origin of attacks and bases and logistical facilities used to support operations against Iran."

A cargo vessel has reported exchanging fire with an armed craft off the Yemen coast, the British military has said.

The incident unfolded southwest of Balhaf, Yemen, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre, an organization run by the British navy that helps protect commercial shipping in high-risk areas. It said the cargo vessel reported being approached by a craft with at least six armed people onboard before an exchange of fire broke out.

The craft ultimately turned away, it said, adding that authorities were still investigating the matter. As of early today, there were no reports of injuries related to the incident.

The UKMTO noted that vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity.

Iranian forces have targeted "a number" of American bases in the Middle East in response to U.S. strikes after Trump said a military aircraft had been downed by Iran, Khatam al-Anbiya, the operational headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard said this morning.

Khatam al-Anbiya said it had launched the attacks "in response to the aggression of America’s terrorist military against areas in southern Iran under the false pretext of its helicopter crash." As of this morning, Iran had not claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter.

Khatam al-Anbiya vowed that there would be further “devastating and more wide ranging strikes” to follow if the U.S. continued to attack Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi did say yesterday in a post on X that U.S. forces are putting themselves at risk by being in the region, but he did not mention any Iranian role in downing the helicopter.

Kuwait’s army said on X that “air defense systems are currently engaging hostile aerial targets.”

The Revolutionary Guard launched drones at the Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait a short time ago, according to Iranian state TV.

The Revolutionary Guard said in a statement that its naval forces had carried out 21 attacks against "America's air and naval bases in the region" and shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the city of Jam, according to the state-owned IRIB news agency.

The Guard also said in the statement that it used long-range missiles to target F-35 jet hangers at the Al Azraq military base in Jordan.

The Revolutionary Guard fired rockets at the Al Azraq base in Jordan, the semiofficial Fars new agency reported on Telegram .

"The Revolutionary Guards minutes ago fired rockets at the Al Azraq American base in Jordan," it said.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry told people on social media to seek shelter.

"The siren has been sounded. Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," it said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said a short while ago that it had launched drones at the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain.

U.S. Central Command said minutes ago that the strikes against Iran in response to a downed helicopter are over.

“CENTCOM forces struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz with precision munitions from U.S. Air Force and Navy fighter jets,” it said in a statement .

“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” CENTCOM said.

"U.S. forces remain vigilant and postured to defend against unjustified Iranian aggression," it said.

Iran has launched drones at U.S. military targets in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for U.S. attacks on Iran today, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said, according to state TV.

"Early this morning, the war-mongering American regime attacked several points in Jask, Sirik, and Qeshm under false pretenses, damaging a telecommunications tower in Sirik and destroying two water tanks in the Bemani district of the city," the Guard said in a statement. "In response to this evil move by the enemy, the fighters of the Revolutionary Guards Navy launched a drone attack on the Fifth Naval Fleet in Bahrain and the Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait at 2:30 a.m."

Clashes continue, the Guard said in the statement, and it said that if the U.S. attacks continue, "heavier responses are on the way."

Explosions have been heard on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported.

"The sound of explosions have been heard on Qeshm Island several times," the agency posted on Telegram . "Before this, the sound of explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, Sirik and Jask."

A second wave of attacks was carried out on Jask, a city on Iran's southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency .

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this afternoon that he was notified before today’s strikes in Iran, which he called “proportional and limited.”

Johnson said the strikes were “against unjustified Iranian aggression” and “targeted strikes to their radar, missile and command and control sites.”

Iranian state television IRIB reported that two water reservoirs in the Bemani district near the Strait of Hormuz were struck, disrupting drinking water.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after the U.S. attacks today that Iran will not leave any attack "unanswered."

"Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the U.S. opted to test our determination. Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered," Araghchi wrote on X . "Leave our region if you want to be safe. History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders."

Senators briefed by the commander of U.S. Central Command were left with the impression that an Iranian drone struck the U.S. Apache helicopter lost off Oman, some of them told NBC News.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who left the briefing early, said it was intentional.

“They still have some missiles and launchers and drones left, and I think they’re trying to show us that they’re the tough guys,” he said.

The classified briefing was held with senators tasked with appropriating funds for the Defense Department this afternoon. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper briefed senators for around 90 minutes.

The Iranian semiofficial Mehr news agency reported that Jask and Kouhe Mobarakeh have been struck by "enemy" projectiles.

The strikes against Iran today follow the shooting down of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter overnight, according to Trump and the military.

The Army AH-64 Apache went down at 7:33 p.m. ET yesterday while it was patrolling regional waters near the coast of Oman, U.S. Central Command has said.

The two crewmembers were safely rescued and were stable, Central Command said in a statement . It said the cause of the incident was under investigation.

Trump said on social media today that the helicopter, was shot down and he vowed retaliation.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said in the post .

Trump added that “the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Iranian state television reported that a strike by a projectile in Sirik “has been confirmed but the exact location has not been determined.”

Sirik is in southern Iran along the Strait of Hormuz.

“Some sources report hearing explosions and air defense activity in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik,” state television said.

U.S. Central Command said today that new attacks had been launched against Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.

“U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief’s direction, in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” CENTCOM wrote on X.