• Trump says US must ‘respond to attack’, yet hopeful of deal
• Ghalibaf says Iran prefers diplomacy to confrontation
• Vance says ‘long-time settlement’ with Iran in US best interest
• UN chief, China concerned over escalation, ask parties to stop
• Khamenei’s funeral after Ashura
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN: After a US Army helicopter was shot down off Oman under unknown circumstances, President Donald Trump accused Iran of targeting the aircraft and vowed to respond, prompting a sharp reaction from Tehran that warned of payback in kind.
“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,” President Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday. He said the two pilots involved in the incident were both safe and uninjured.
“Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack,” he added.
In remarks earlier on Tuesday about the downing of the Apache helicopter, Trump had said the two crew members were “fine” following their rescue by a US Navy drone, but did not comment on what brought the Apache down. A surface drone found and rescued the two crew, the US military told Reuters. US Central Command said the AH-64 Apache went down at around 11pm (GMT) on Monday.
As the US warned of a response, Iran’s top negotiator Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran preferred the language of diplomacy but could “speak other languages far more fluently”. “Break your covenant, so that we may return to the language we know best of all,” he said in a statement posted by Iran’s Fars News Agency.
In a separate conversation, Trump also described his heated telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I said, ‘Do what’s right, but I want you to stop as quickly as you can’ — because they have to stop. This had to do with Lebanon, and it has to stop. We want to get it finished.” Trump also said they were in the “final throes” of a “very very good deal” with Iran that would open the Strait of Hormuz and stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In Tehran, two Iranian air defence personnel were due to be buried on Tuesday afternoon after being killed in Israeli strikes the day before, Iran’s military said. No deaths were reported in Israel after the Iranian strikes.
‘Not a quagmire’
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance says the war will not become a quagmire for Washington, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan. “I feel extremely confident that we are not going to be talking about America’s involvement in Iran even a year down the road, but certainly not years down the road,” Mr Vance told USA Today. “I think that we’re going to be successful. If this diplomacy ultimately falls apart, then the president has further tools at his disposal.” “But so long as we keep this thing anchored to the core mission — prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon — it’s not going to become a quagmire,” he added.
Earlier, he told Fox News that the US can get a “long-term settlement to Iran’s nuclear deal”. He said Israel and the United States have “a lot of shared interests, but we also have some situations where our interests diverge”.
“Thanks to what’s happened over the last few months, but really over the last year and a half, we’ve created the space necessary where the president believes — and I think he’s right — that we can get the long-term settlement to Iran’s nuclear deal,” Vance tells Fox News. “Now, Israel may like that, they may not like that, but fundamentally we think this is in the best interest of the United States of America.”
‘Renewed escalation’
As fears of fresh escalation grew, US Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday took to X and wrote, “I’m deeply alarmed by the renewed escalation in the Middle East. All attacks must stop immediately. The ceasefires in Lebanon, Iran & Gaza must be fully respected. Any steps that could undermine ongoing diplomatic efforts must be avoided.”
China also urged all sides to avoid escalating the US-Israel war on Iran, stressing that military action cannot resolve disputes among nations. “The three-month-long US-Israel-Iran conflict has hit countries in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region hard,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement. “At this critical juncture of Iran-US negotiations, no one should reignite military conflict. Regional countries’ sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected and upheld.”
Khamenei’s funeral
The official committee overseeing the funeral arrangements for Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced that the procession and burial will take place after the first ten days of Muharram, dismissing reports regarding immediate dates, WANA Iran reports.
In its second official statement, the committee addressed widespread confusion surrounding the upcoming state funeral for the late supreme leader and members of his family who were killed alongside him in US-Israeli strikes on Feb 28.
It noted “extensive planning required to host a magnificent and dignified farewell, funeral, and burial” of Khamenei.
To ensure that millions of Shias across Iran and the globe can observe the sacred first ten days of Muharram without disruption, the national farewell ceremonies will be put on hold.
Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026