Washington, United States. The US military said it shot down an Iranian drone that it said “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. The incident was first reported by Reuters.
Drone shootdown near aircraft carrier
The US military said the Iranian Shahed-139 drone flew toward the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 fighter jet. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military’s Central Command, said an F-35C from the Abraham Lincoln shot down the drone in self-defence to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.
Hawkins said no American service members were harmed and no US equipment was damaged.
Context of regional tensions and diplomacy
The incident occurred as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading toward Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
The Lincoln carrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military buildup in the Middle East following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, described as the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution. Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to Iran’s coast.
Trump said last week Iran was “seriously talking,” while Tehran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said arrangements for negotiations were under way.
Market reaction
Oil futures prices LCOc1 rose more than $1 per barrel after news the drone was shot down.
Separate incident in the Strait of Hormuz
In a separate incident on Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed a US-flagged, US-crewed merchant vessel hours after the drone shootdown.
Hawkins said two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.
What impact do you think these incidents could have on efforts to restart US-Iran nuclear talks?
