U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, Pentagon officials said.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran, and in the midst of a significant build-up of American military assets in the region, including the Abraham Lincoln. The shoot-down came just hours after Iran signaled it wanted to begin direct negotiations with the Trump administration, which has demanded that Tehran make major concessions on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Separately on Tuesday, military officials said that Iranian forces harassed a U.S.-flagged merchant ship sailing in the Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast. The two incidents could suggest that some elements of Iran’s military want to test the American forces in the region.
U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement that the Iranian Shahed-139 drone approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier as it was sailing about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast. He said that the drone “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.”
The Iranian drone was shot down by a U.S. F-35 fighter jet, officials said. No troops were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged, officials said.
Hours later, two boats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed the merchant ship Stena Imperative, officials said, and Iranian crews even threatened to board and seize the vessel.
A U.S. destroyer responded to the scene and escorted the ship out of danger, with “defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any Iranian personnel were killed or injured.
The incidents come against a tense backdrop. President Trump has repeatedly threatened military strikes on Iran because of its violent, deadly crackdown on protesters last month. The president has surged American military assets to the region in preparation for those possible strikes.
Mr. Trump last year ordered strikes against three key Iranian nuclear facilities.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
