A US Army Apache helicopter went down over the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday — hours afterPresident Trump raised fresh hopes of a US-Iran peace deal by claiming Washington will be able to declare “total victory” in two weeks and suggesting an agreement could be reached “in two or three days.”

Trump confirmed the crash while speaking to reporters at New York’s JFK Airport early Tuesday, saying: “The pilots are fine. Yeah. Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow, but the pilots are fine.”

In a separate statement, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the crash happened about 3:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. Monday ET) off the coast of Oman while on a patrol. The statement added the two-person crew had been rescued within two hours and were in stable condition.

It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down or experienced a mechanical issue one day after Iran and Israel traded missile attacks in the most intense fighting since a cease-fire took effect April 8. The crash was first reported by the New York Times.

AH-64 Apache helicopters have been a key asset for the American military as it enforces a blockade on Iranian crude oil shipments and tankers, seeking to pressure Tehran into reaching a deal. The helicopters have also been used by the United Arab Emirates to shoot down Iranian drones during the Iran war.

Trump also told reporters on the tarmac at JFK that he was optimistic about the chances for a peace deal with Iran to end the war that began Feb. 28.

“We’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal. If we go and bomb, which we can do very easily if we want, and we spend another two or three weeks bombing, they’ll have nothing left whatsoever,” said Trump, who was in New York to watch the New York Knicks lose to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

“But you won’t have the strait open for months,” he said. “If we do the bombing, a lot of people are going to be killed. Who wants to do that? I don’t.”

Hours earlier, Trump told a tele-town hall for South Carolina GOP candidates that the US will be able to declare “total victory” in two weeks.

“You’re really going to win it over the next two weeks when we declare total victory,” he said. “It will be a total victory and it will happen very soon.”

The US wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed still to be entombed in the country after American airstrikes in the 12-day war in 2025. But Iran is refusing that and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.

Tehran had fired missiles towards Israeli territory late Sunday, calling the strikes retaliation for attacks by the Jewish state against Hezbollah terrorists on the outskirts of Beirut.

Israel then retaliated by hittomg Iranian air defense systems and a petrochemical plant that it said was used to produce ballistic missiles.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) said it had responded in turn with a strike aimed at a similar Israeli plant in the city ‌of Haifa.

Trump called on the Middle Eastern enemies to lay down the weapons Monday morning, ordering the two countries to “stop shooting.”

Iran’s joint military command then said it was halting offensive operations against Israel — but issued a blistering warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The joint command warned that if Israel or its allies carried out any further “aggression and hostile acts,” including against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, “much more severe and crushing measures than before will follow.”

“They were going back and forth [with strikes], and now they both agreed, through me, to stop, and now we’re in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal,” Trump claimed early Tuesday, adding that any agreement “will not allow [Iran] in any way, shape, or form nuclear weapons … And the strait [of Hormuz] will open up, they’ll open up immediately upon signing.”

With Post wires