American forces shot down an Iranian drone Tuesday as it “aggressively” approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea and appeared to have “unclear intent,” U.S. Central Command said.
“USS Abraham Lincoln was transiting the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,” a spokesman for the command, Capt. Tim Hawkins, said in a statement. “The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.”
The drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the aircraft carrier, the statement said, and no American service members were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have spiked as President Donald Trump is considering military strikes against the Islamic Republic.
Top American and Iranian officials are expected to hold talks Friday in Turkey, four senior Middle East diplomats and a U.S. official told NBC News. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would be part of the delegations, according to four of the sources.
The drone was carrying out a “routine and lawful mission in international waters, engaged in reconnaissance, monitoring, and imaging, which is considered a normal and legal activity,” the Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in a report, citing an “informed source.”
“This drone successfully transmitted its surveillance and reconnaissance images to headquarters, but subsequently lost communication. The reason for this loss of contact is currently under review,” the report said.
In a separate incident hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC harassed a U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that U.S. Central Command said was lawfully transiting the international sea passage.
Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the tanker, the M/V Stena Imperative, at high speed and threatened to board and seize it, according to the U.S. military.
The guided missile destroyer USS McFaul was operating in the area and escorted the tanker with defensive air support from the Air Force, according to Central Command. “The situation de-escalated as a result, and the U.S.-flagged tanker is proceeding safely,” Hawkins’ statement said.
It is unclear whether Trump will decide to use force. He said “we’ll find out” when he was asked Sunday whether Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was correct to predict that a U.S. attack on the country would spark a regional war.
Asked about the remarks by a reporter, Trump said he was hopeful that a deal could be struck, while cautioning that the U.S. has “the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there.”
The USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the region from the South China Sea just days ago. “Continued Iranian harassment and threats in international waters and airspace will not be tolerated,” the Central Command statement said.
[/gpt3]
