On Tuesday, U.S. Central Command confirmed that a U.S. Navy F-35C fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was closing on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. The incident comes amidst growing tensions between the two countries as widespread protests rock Iran.
The Shahed-139 unmanned aerial vehicle, produced by Iran’s military industry and widely used regionally, “aggressively approached” the American carrier, according to the Associated Press. Despite repeated de-escalation attempts by U.S. forces operating in international waters, the drone continued toward the strike group, prompting defensive action. No U.S. personnel or equipment were harmed in the encounter.
CENTCOM’s statement emphasized that the Abraham Lincoln was navigating international waters at all times and that the defensive action was taken only after the drone showed no sign of altering its course. U.S. military spokespeople did not publicly disclose the precise distance between the drone and the carrier when the engagement occurred.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is one of the U.S. Navy’s largest warships and has been deployed to the Middle East amid broader diplomatic and military pressure on Iran as protests among its citizens regarding economic issues rock the Middle Eastern nation. The carrier was reportedly 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Iran’s southern coast at the time of the incident.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the White House is “locked and loaded” to intervene if Iran’s government “violently kills peaceful protesters,” and Iranian officials estimate that 2,000 people have died in relation to the protests. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, has reportedly met with officials from the Trump administration, signaling the White House’s interest in regime change in Iran.
Relations between the United States and Iran have been strained by a combination of diplomatic friction over nuclear talks and a buildup of U.S. military assets in the region intended to deter further escalation. In recent days, Trump described a “massive armada” of U.S. naval forces moving toward Iran as a signal that Tehran should return to diplomatic negotiations or face consequences.
The U.S. military also reported harassment of a U.S.-flagged merchant vessel, the Stena Imperative, in the Strait of Hormuz on the same day, according to CBS News. According to CENTCOM, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the tanker at high speed, in what U.S. officials characterized as a threatening maneuver. The tanker ultimately evaded capture and reached a U.S. warship escort.
