The U.S. military announced that it had shot down an Iranian drone on Tuesday after it “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 U.S. fighter jet, it said, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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“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 U.S. military’s Central Command.
No American service members were harmed during the incident and no U.S. equipment was damaged, he added.
The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and U.S. President Donald Trump warned that with U.S. 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 U.S. military buildup in the Middle East following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.
