The United States military said it had launched what it described as “self-defence” strikes against Iran, following the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter a day earlier.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM), in a post on X, said the strikes commenced at 5pm Eastern Time on the orders of President Donald Trump and were carried out in response to what Washington termed “unjustified Iranian aggression”.

The operation was described as a “proportional response” to the loss of the helicopter.