Sailors and sailors man the rail as the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is guided by tugboats in San Diego Bay as it returns to port from Naval Air Station North Island on December 20, 2024 in San Diego, California.
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The US military shot down an Iranian drone that flew towards the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East over the president Donald Trump Weighing possible military strikes against the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins told CNBC that the Shahed-139 drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent.”
The Abraham Lincoln was about 500 miles off Iran’s southern coast when the drone made an “unnecessary maneuver” toward the ship, Hawkins said. US forces responded in international waters and took de-escalation measures, but the drone continued to fly towards the aircraft carrier, he said.
The Abraham Lincoln F-35 fighter jet shot down the drone “in self-defense to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,” Hawkins said. No US personnel were injured and no US equipment was damaged, he said.
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Hours after the drone was shot down, Iranian forces clamped down on a U.S.-flagged and crewed merchant ship legally transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Hawkins said. Islamic Revolution Guards Corps forces boarded the M/V Stena Imperative and threatened to seize it, he said.
A US guided-missile destroyer intervened and de-escalated the situation, and the merchant ship is now safely underway, Hawkins said.
Trump deployed Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East because he threatened to strike Iran. does not negotiate a deal related to the nuclear program. The president threatened to strike the Islamic Republic during mass anti-regime demonstrations last month, but ultimately backed off the strikes.
The developments came as Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to hold talks with Iranian officials later this week. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt told Fox News that those interviews are still planned.
“When it comes to the president, he’s always willing to pursue diplomacy first,” Levitt said. “But of course it takes two to tango for diplomacy to work. You need a partner who is willing to engage.”
Levitt said Trump “always has many options on the table, and that includes the use of military force.”