US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, rejected reports by the Islamic Republic's state media that a US Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter had crashed in the Red Sea, saying the claim was not true.
According to IranWire and the Azerbaijani news agency APA, CENTCOM said in a post on X that the helicopter had neither crashed nor been shot down, and that all US military aircraft in the region were safe and accounted for. According to Arab Times, CENTCOM also stressed that all US personnel and aircraft across the Middle East were safe.
State media claims about the US helicopter
The Islamic Republic's state media had earlier claimed that the MH-60R had probably crashed on Monday, 5 October, after declaring an emergency over the Red Sea near the coast of Saudi Arabia. Some reports by the same outlets spoke of the helicopter being shot down.
The claim was based on public flight-tracking data: according to Arab Times, the helicopter disappeared from the tracking service after transmitting an emergency code, which set off speculation about a possible crash. A military aircraft disappearing from public tracking systems is not in itself a sign of a crash, and military aircraft often switch off their transponders.
CENTCOM: no US helicopter has crashed in the Red Sea, and all US aircraft are safe.
A war of narratives under the naval blockade
The denial came as the United States continues its naval blockade of Iran; on 5 October CENTCOM announced that in 12 weeks of blockade it had destroyed 13 ships violating the blockade.
Meanwhile, Ali Fadavi, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed a few days ago that no US vessels were present in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman; a claim that contradicted the remarks of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on control of the Strait of Hormuz.
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