U.S President Donald Trump confirmed that a United States army helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz and that the two crew members aboard escaped uninjured. He did not mention the cause of the crash. Iranian state media, relying on foreign reporting, also confirmed the incident without detailing further information,
Trump spoke to reporters at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York after watching the NBA Finals on Monday night.
“The pilots are fine. Yeah,” he said “Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine.”
The New York Times initially reported that a U.S Army Apache attack helicopter went down near the economically critical waterway in unclear circumstances. The U.S military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Department of Defense have not yet responded to requests for comments.
Peace deal in progress?
Trump also told reporters that the United States was inching closer to a strong deal with Iran within “two or three days”.
“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal,” he said “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. But you won’t have the strait open for months.”
“If we do the bombing, you know, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t,” Trump further added.
Washington’s demand includes Tehran surrendering its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which has been repeatedly rejected by Iran. Tehran is also demanding relief from sanctions, pushing for the release of foreign assets. However, Trump is adamant on not doing so until a final agreement is in place.
Trump warns Netanyahu to be careful
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also had a conversation on Monday, according to U.S and Israeli officials.
Trump spoke to Axios, where he said he warned Netanyahu that he could end up fighting alone if he went back to war with Iran.
“I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon,'” said Trump.
However, an Israeli military official stated that Israel was prepared to continue operations for “as long as it takes”.
