US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Tuesday that a US Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, The Associated Press reported.
The incident comes amid tensions between the US and Iran, as the Trump administration warns it may use military force to pressure Iran into negotiations.
According to CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins, the drone “aggressively approached" the carrier with “unclear intent" and continued flying toward it “despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters."
The military said the incident occurred only hours after Iranian forces harassed a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C launched from the Lincoln, which was operating about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast. No American personnel were harmed and no US equipment was damaged, according to AP.
Iranian state media reported that the Revolutionary Guard is investigating what it called the “interruption" of the drone. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said the drone had successfully transmitted its images back to Iran before the footage cut out.
Following the shootdown, Revolutionary Guard forces harassed the merchant vessel Stena Imperative, the US military said. Two boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the tanker “at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker," according to Hawkins. The destroyer USS McFaul responded and escorted the vessel “with defensive air support from the US Air Force." The ship is now sailing safely.
Despite the provocation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said talks between special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials were still planned. “President Trump is always wanting to pursue diplomacy first, but obviously it takes two to tango," she said. “As always, though, of course, the president has a range of options on the table with respect to Iran."
US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are set to meet on Friday in Istanbul to discuss a possible nuclear agreement.
Trump has called for Iran to reach a deal with the US on its nuclear program, while leaving the military option on the table.
Ahead of Friday’s meeting, two Iranian officials told The New York Times that Iran is prepared to shut down or suspend its nuclear program in an effort to calm the crisis between the two countries.
According to the report, Iran would prefer a proposal made by the United States last year to establish a regional consortium for nuclear power production.
The officials also said that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Larijani carried a message from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, indicating that Iran could agree to ship its enriched uranium to Russia, similar to the arrangement under the 2015 nuclear deal.