Iran Downs Helicopter, Dares Trump To Respond — And He Must
America rescued its two crewmembers but not yet its strategic deterrence.
U.S. Central Command announced Tuesday morning it had rescued two crewmembers from a downed U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopter. The helo had been on patrol near the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz.
Six-and-a-half hours later, President Trump announced on Truth Social that “the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters.” Notably, he said that “the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”
It appears, according to an unnamed U.S. official, an Iranian drone was responsible for the downing of the $52 million high-tech attack helicopter. How it happened remains unclear. The Iranian drone might have fired a missile or collided with the American aircraft.
Either way, two U.S. soldiers were put in harm’s way. This was not a “love tap: by Iran. It was a deadly assault on two American servicemembers who have loved ones back home.
It was also an Iranian assault intentionally aimed at Mr. Trump. Iran is testing him, and Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, the chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is betting the White House will fail.
In the balance: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, made it clear Iran is taunting Mr. Trump when he posted this afternoon on X, “We [Iran] prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently.”
Tehran’s other language Monday was kinetic, and it was delivered by an Iranian drone.
Mr. Ghalibaf then defiantly declared in the Tuesday post, “Break your commitments, and we’ll switch to what we speak best.”
Of course, Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States ignored it is Tehran that is repeatedly ignoring its “commitments.” Iran’s list of ceasefire violations is long.
In recent days, the IRGC has attacked U.S. military forces stationed at Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. Iranian drones killed one person and injured 63 people in a civilian passenger terminal at Kuwait International Airport.
Then on Sunday, the IRGC fired 20 ballistic missiles at Israel in response to Israeli strikes in Beirut. Meanwhile, Iran has continued attempts to mine the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr. Ghalibaf may be claiming, or at least implying, Iran is speaking the language of peace, but in reality, as part of its attempt to leverage Mr. Trump during peace talks, the IRGC is speaking the language of war.
So too is Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister. He posted on X Tuesday afternoon, “Foreign forces in proximity to our territory are at constant risk on account of their own human errors, plain accidents, or potentially being caught in crossfire.”
Mr. Araghchi then urged the United States “to leave.” He also reiterated Mr. Ghalibaf’s messaging by stating, “We prefer language of diplomacy but speak other languages too.”
Not really. For 47 years Iran essentially has spoken only one language: war.
Decision point: Mr. Trump is at a crossroads. His ceasefire, as we have long argued, is on a road to nowhere. Mr. Vahidi is openly challenging him, and he is betting that the White House is not up to the fight.
The United States hitting back is the right thing to do. Strategic deterrence must be reestablished. However, if it is just a like-kind strike, Mr. Vahidi will only be emboldened by it.
So too will Mr. Ghalibaf and Mr. Araghchi. Mr. Trump must disabuse them all of that notion.
Striking the IRGC hard is one half of the U.S. equation. Striking at targets associated with Mr. Ghalibaf and Mr. Araghchi is the other. The White House must make it clear that Mr. Trump sees through their charade.
If not, Mr. Ghalibaf will keep talking peace, while Mr. Vahidi keeps waging war.
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