Iran war updates: Trump claims Iran shot down helicopter, vows to ‘respond’

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We are about to close this live page. Here’s a recap of the day’s main developments:

• US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces launched “self-defense strikes” against targets in Iran as a response to the “downing of a US Army Apache helicopter”.

• President Trump said the US response to a helicopter being downed over the Strait of Hormuz should be “very strong”. He earlier said both pilots were “fine”.

• Iran’s deputy foreign minister told Al Jazeera that Iran was not behind the attack.
• At least 11 people were killed in two Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s Tyre district.
• The Israeli army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, said Israel is prepared to wage another “deep strike” on Iran if the order is given.
• Amnesty International and Christian Aid said recent UK sanctions against Israeli settler groups did not go far enough.

The UN secretary-general’s personal envoy for the Middle East conflict and its consequences, Jean Arnault, is in the US capital for talks with government officials and others.

UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters the visit is part of Arnault’s “ongoing consultations” including “in the context of Pakistani‑mediated negotiations between the United States and Iran”.

Arnault is also working to support “regional efforts to advance relations grounded in full respect for national sovereignty and mutual security”, Haq added.

Since his appointment to the role in March, Arnault has also met with officials in Tehran and attended Pakistan-mediated talks in Islamabad.

Iran’s football federation says the US has revoked its allocation of tickets for its team’s World Cup group matches, accusing the cohosts of obstructing the attendance of Iranian supporters under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row.

“With less than three days remaining until the start of the 2026 World Cup … the United States has once again acted to obstruct the presence of Iranian supporters at the stadiums hosting the national team’s three group stage matches,” the federation said in a statement.

Read more here.

That’s a very clear idea and a very clear position that has been repeated time and again by the Iranians that the Americans should leave this region for this type of confrontation and tension to be over.

But that’s something, understandably, the Americans are not going to listen to. So there is this deadlock, this confrontation and showdown between the Americans and the Iranians and also between the Iranians and the Israelis.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has responded to attacks on Iran, telling the US to “leave our region if you want to be safe”.

“Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the U.S. opted to test our determination,” Araghchi posted on X. “Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”

Despite its defeats on the battlefield, the U.S. opted to test our determination.

Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.

Leave our region if you want to be safe.

History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders. pic.twitter.com/O17GGtklxA

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 9, 2026

The latest we have, according to the Mehr news agency, is that six explosions have been heard on the island of Qeshm.

The Iranians seem to have activated their air defences, so that’s something that indicates an ongoing operation, an ongoing exchange of fire between the two sides, something that may leave the door open for an extension of this latest escalation tonight.

Nobody knows how it’s going to end, and whether the Americans are going to stop after these initial strikes or continue. The Iranian retaliation, according to reports we have, is already under way in terms, at least, of the air defence activity.

US Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders has blasted a provision of the US defence budget that would further integrate the US and Israeli militaries, saying it comes with “zero oversight”.

In a post on X, Sanders said Netanyahu is lobbying for the provision – known as Section 224 – as it “quietly expands US-Israel military cooperation and weapons development with almost zero oversight”.

“The American people do not want more US military aid to Israel,” said Sanders. “We must defeat Section 224.”

Section 224 would require the US defence secretary to appoint an “executive agent”: a single official to coordinate military cooperation between the US and Israel.

That work would cover joint research and development, the shared production of weapons, and the linking of military systems and data.

The bill would also extend their joint work into many more areas of modern warfare, from artificial intelligence to drones and cyber-operations.

Netanyahu is lobbying for Section 224 in the national defense bill, a provision that quietly expands U.S.-Israel military cooperation and weapons development with almost zero oversight.

The American people do not want more U.S. military aid to Israel. We must defeat Section 224.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 9, 2026

Describing this interestingly as self-defence operations, that would suggest that if, as we have been told, the US investigation discovered that it was a Shahed one-way attack drone that was used in the downing of the helicopter, this will be targeting where they believe drones are being manufactured in Iran.

The fact that they’re calling it self-defence suggests that this isn’t a restart of the war, that this continues to be a continuation of the peace fire, where there are some exchanges of fire between Iran and the US, but the overall goal is, of course, to get to some sort of memorandum of understanding and therefore, to a final deal between the two countries.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that the death toll from the Israeli air strike on the al-Masaken neighbourhood in the city of Tyre has risen to eight, with 35 people wounded, including three children.

The death toll from another Israeli air attack on the town of el-Buss, within the Tyre district, rose to three, with nine people wounded.

The Iranians are clearly saying they haven’t deliberately targeted this helicopter, but also, it seems like there is a grey zone there because they did not say, ‘We did not target this helicopter’.

That’s something that can be analysed both here and in the US. So they have left the door open for possibilities.