The US military shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, an American official told Reuters on Tuesday. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier and was shot down by a F-35 US fighter jet. "An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military's Central Command.
No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no US equipment was damaged, he added. The White House later praised CENTCOM's actions and affirmed that talks scheduled for Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were still on. In a separate incident, six Iranian gunboats approached a US-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, north of Oman, according to maritime sources and a security consultancy. US officials confirmed that armed Iranian boats attempted to stop the US-flagged ship, which was subsequently escorted to safety.
"Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker," Hawkins said. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) stated it is investigating the incident, which occurred in the inbound Traffic Separation Scheme of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian gunboats attempted to contact the tanker via VHF radio, but the ship ignored their requests to stop and continued on its planned route (Ed note: Do you think it's starting? This is not the US Navy of previous Presidents, these guys will fight.) (Read More)
