News24 | Pilots unhurt as US Apache helicopter crashes near Hormuz, says Trump

US President Donald Trump said early on Tuesday that the pilots of a US Army ‌Apache helicopter that went down near the Strait of Hormuz “are fine”.

Speaking on the runway at John F Kennedy International Airport before returning to Washington, DC, Trump ⁠said there was “nobody injured”.

The administration would issue a report later on Tuesday, he added.

The New York Times reported late on Monday that a US Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz and its two crew ‌members ⁠were safely rescued, citing two people briefed on the incident.

It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian ⁠fire, experienced mechanical failure, or encountered some other problem, the report said.

READ | Israel strikes on Iran send a message to Trump: It demands a seat at the negotiating table

In a further escalation of tension in the Middle East, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday that they would ban Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, adding to challenges for global shipping through the Middle East during the Iran war.

Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, briefed the Defense subcommittee for the House Appropriations Committee today in Washington, D.C., on U.S. military operational priorities in the Middle East. Cooper will also brief the committee in the Senate tomorrow. These sessions follow… pic.twitter.com/jACQs9MH3E

The group said in a statement it had launched an attack on Israel and enacted a total ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea.

Any Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping would worry energy markets more than three months into Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the war reigniting overnight.

The Red Sea, leading to the Suez Canal, is a crucial shipping lane in its own right, and during the Iran war has become the main alternative outlet for millions of barrels per day of Middle East oil sent by pipeline, bypassing the Gulf.

A Houthi source told Reuters that preventing Israeli ships from transiting the Red Sea was a first step, and that further escalation could lead it to stop the passage of any ships bound for Israel, as well as other measures.

Yemen’s Houthis have declared a ‘total ban’ on Israeli vessels wanting to pass through the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/0vl7pivwLE

The announcement did not amount to a ban on all commercial shipping in the Red Sea and was instead “directed at vessels assessed by the Houthis as Israeli-affiliated”, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said on Monday in a note.

“Given the broad wording used, vessels operating in the region should maint