US shoots down Iranian drone near aircraft carrier
The US military says it shot down an Iranian drone acting “aggressively” near its aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea in self-defence.
The US military says it has shot âdown an Iranian drone that âaggressivelyâ approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying â toward the carrier âwith unclear intentâ and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, it said on Tuesday (US time).
âAn F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board,â Navy âCaptain Tim Hawkins, a âspokesperson at the US militaryâs Central Command, said.
No American service members were âharmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he said.
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The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading toward Iran, âbad thingsâ would probably happen âif no deal could be reached.
The Lincoln âcarrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military build-up in the Middle East âfollowing a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in âIran 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 âa âflotilla to its coast. He âsaid last week Iran was âseriously talking,â while Tehranâs âtop security official, Ali Larijani, said arrangements for negotiations were under way.
The US militaryâs Central Command said in another incident on Tuesday, hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranâs Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed a US-flagged, US-crewed merchant vessel.
âTwo IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the âtanker,â Hawkins said.
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