U.S. Military Strikes Targets in Iran

The U.S. military struck targets in Iran late Tuesday in response to the Iranian downing of an American helicopter Monday in the Strait of Hormuz.

"U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces began launching self-defense strikes against Iran at 5 p.m. ET today at the Commander in Chief's direction, in response to yesterday's downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter," the military announced on social media. "The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression."

The attacks came hours of U.S. President Donald Trump said that while the two pilots aboard the American helicopter survived, "the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack."

Reuters quoted Iran's Mehr News Agency as saying residents in the area of Sirik, Iran, heard explosions of an unknown nature.

The U.S. and Iranian attacks are throwing a fragile ceasefire in the U.S.-Israel-Iran War into jeopardy.

However, oil prices – which typically rise on any instability in the energy-rich Mideast – showed a muted initial reaction.

$Crude Oil Futures (AUG6) (CLmain.US)$, which had been down all day Tuesday, remained 2.9% lower at $88.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at last check.

As for stocks, the military strikes occurred after Wall Street had already closed for the day. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ shed 1% during the session, while the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ lost 0.3%. However, the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ inched up 0.2%.

While Trump's earlier social-media post about retaliatory strikes likely dampened investor sentiment, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Comp mostly fell on weakness in the tech sector, which has been trading up and down in recent days.

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