Trump said over 100 million barrels of crude had passed through the Strait of Hormuz as part of “a secret US mission to support oil tankers”. The US Central Command on Wednesday confirmed that American forces hit an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman for the second consecutive day, which had 24 Indians onboard. The Ministry of External Affairs has said that 3 Indians remain missing and a search is underway.

US, Iran trade airstrikes: Earlier in the day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards struck US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in the early hours of Wednesday and claimed 21 American targets were hit and four destroyed. This came after US conducted airstrikes on Iranian air defence, ground control and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz following the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait on Tuesday. Iran also claimed to have downed a US MQ-9 drone over Jam, and warned of a “crushing and decisive” response to any further American action. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X: “Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”

Iran downs US Apache helicopter: Trump confirmed on Truth Social that Iran had downed the “highly sophisticated” Apache, saying the US “must, of necessity, respond.” Both pilots were rescued by a Saronic Technologies Corsair drone boat, the first publicly known use of an unmanned boat by the US military to recover personnel, operated by the Navy’s Task Force 59.

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