The US has begun striking Iran in retaliation for its Monday night downing of an American military helicopter and its two pilots, US Central Command said Tuesday. ”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 US Army Apache helicopter,” the combatant command said. ”The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression.”