US President Donald Trump said Iran may be involved in the crash of a US military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz and stressed that Washington "must respond" to the incident. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

He made the statement on social media after the crew of an Apache helicopter was evacuated from the crash site using an unmanned naval vessel.

Trump clarified that the pilots were not injured.

"The pilots are fine. No one is hurt," he told reporters in New York.

According to US Central Command, the helicopter crashed early Tuesday morning during a patrol in the strategic waterway off the coast of Oman. The cause of the incident has not been officially determined, and an investigation is underway.

According to The New York Times, this could be the first loss of an Apache helicopter since the start of hostilities on February 28.

Separately, the military said the rescue operation was the first in US Army history conducted using a naval drone. The crew was evacuated using a 24-foot Corsair vessel, part of the US Navy's Task Force 59.

The incident occurred amid a sharp escalation in the Middle East. Clashes and mutual strikes continue in the region, and the Strait of Hormuz remains a key point of tension.

Trump also said that negotiations with Iran on a possible agreement are ongoing and could reach a result in the coming days, but he did not disclose details.

The day before, the US president told reporters that he had convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop strikes on Iran.

International mediators, including Pakistan, are trying to advance the negotiation process between Washington and Tehran, but the parties still hold firm positions on key issues.

In particular, Trump demanded the destruction of Iran's enriched uranium. Tehran, in turn, officially rejected the idea of transferring the stockpiles but allows discussion of options for diluting or moving them.

Earlier, Kursiv reported that Kazakhstan could become a site for storing Iran's uranium stockpiles if Washington and Tehran reach a nuclear deal.