Donald Trump has confirmed the US will respond to an attack by Iran following an alleged attack on an Apache helicopter.
The US President released a short statement after two pilots were forced to make a crash landing near the Strait of Hormuz.
He said: "I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.
"There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
The US President did not confirm what form the US response would look like.
The statement comes just hours after Mr Trump declared that "total victory" over Iran will be achieved within two weeks.
Mr Trump said: "We've been a very tough team. And I think we are winning that battle.
"But you're really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory."
Donald Trump has confirmed the US will respond to an alleged attack on an Apache helicopter
|GETTY
He added: "It will happen very soon and oil prices will come tumbling down."
The US President had said overnight that Iran was now negotiating, adding the country wanted to make a "very good deal", one where Iran was "willing to give us no nuclear weapon".
Mr Trump has repeatedly called for Iran to surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Mr Trump has dubbed "nuclear dust".
He also issued a stern warning to Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, after strikes were exchanged between Iran and Israel.
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Donald Trump had declared that 'total victory' would be achieved over Iran within two weeks overnight
|GETTY
In a phone interview, Mr Trump told Axios: "I said, 'Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon'."
After Iran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday evening, Mr Trump initially called Mr Netanyahu to warn him not to retaliate, saying he would either reach a deal with Iran in a few days which would make strikes unnecessary – or he would not and subsequently renew strikes on Iran.
One US source said the phone interview between the two leaders was "polite", and another said "nobody shouted".
The call was much calmer than one a few days earlier, where Mr Trump is understood to have told Mr Netanyahu he was "f***ing crazy" as he threatened strikes on Lebanon's capital Beirut.
Those strikes would go ahead, killing two people and wounding 20, according to Lebanon health's ministry.
An Israeli source said the Israel Defence Forces notified CENTCOM ahead of the strike in Beirut, but not the White House.
Mr Netanyahu argued on the call that if Israel did not fire retaliatory strikes – which ended the ceasefire – it would have sent the message Iran had the upper hand and could deter the US and Israel from taking military action.
The call concluded without a clear decision from the 76-year-old Israeli Prime Minister, but some US officials felt Mr Trump had been able to buy more time.
An Israeli source said that while Mr Netanyahu understood the US President was against retaliatory strikes but stressed "it was not a firm 'don't'."
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