ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.
The United States Navy shot down an Iranian drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, Reuters reported on February 3, citing an American official.
The official told the news agency that the Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier and was shot down by a F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
The USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group arrived in the Middle East late last month, as a part of a massive U.S. military buildup, as President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened military action if Iran killed protesters or carried out mass executions of prisoners.
A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command later told Al Jazeera that the drone maneuvered in an aggressive manner close to the carrier before getting shot down.
The Shahed-139 was developed to conduct long-range reconnaissance and combat missions. Iran unveiled the drone all the way back in 2023, but has not yet revealed much details about. According to unverified reports, the drone has an endurance of 28 hours, an operational range of 1,800 kilometers, and can fly at an altitude up to 25,000 feet.
Earlier in the day, Reuters reported, citing maritime sources and a security consultancy, that three pairs of Iranian gunboats approached a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman.
The tanker, the Stena Imperative, “did not enter Iranian internal territorial waters” and was escorted by a U.S. warship, maritime risk management group Vanguard said .
These incidents came ahead of talks between the U.S. and Iran, which will reportedly take part in the Turkish city of Istanbul later this week.
A recent report by Axios revealed that senior Israeli officials, including military chief Eyal Zamir have been pushing the U.S. to attack Iran.
The report says that Zamir briefed Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Dan Caine during a recent visit to Washington on Israel’s offensive and defensive plans in the event of war with Iran.
“It’s safe to say that nothing came out of that meeting to change his or the president’s mind on attacking Iran,” Axios quoted a U.S. official as saying, referring to Caine and Trump.
“It’s really the Israelis who want a strike. The president is just not there,” the official added.
Another senior U.S. official told Axiso Trump “really does not want to do it.” The report also quoted three senior Trump advisers as saying that while the president initially favored strikes during the mass protests in Iran, he now feels that launching a military move wouldn’t be the right way to go. One of them even said that skepticism holds for many in Trump’s close orbit.
However, a senior official from one of the mediating countries told Axios that Trump’s attitude could change if Iran doesn’t show willingness to meet U.S. demands.
“If Iran doesn’t come to the talks on Friday with tangible things, it could find itself very quickly in a very bad situation,” the official said.
A separate report from The New York Times revealed that Iran had indicated it is willing to shut down or suspend its nuclear program to calm tensions with the U.S. This, however, won’t solve everything, as Washington has been also pressing the Islamic Republic to limit its missile program, as well as support to its regional allies.
The shot down of the Iranian drone shows that Trump is not as hesitant as the media, especially in the U.S., is trying to portray him. The failure of the planned talks on February 6, could lead to more escalation. Washington could even use it as an excuse to launch an attack.
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a small iranian message to the us fleet. we are watching closely. iran knows that the us does not respect territorial or international waters. the us threats and attempts to control international shipping and commerce expand. talks will bear no fruit for iran. the us only demands iranian submission to gain plunder opportunities. globalist international currency control is weakening, creating more danger
the (((you-know-whos))) inciting yet another war. there will be no peace in the world until these demonic people are brought under control.
iran’s days are numbered…heheheheh
ukraine days are numbered 😆
the jooz and the amerikunts will be food for the buzzards. heheheheheh
“the shot down of the iranian drone shows that trump is not as hesitant as the media… is trying to portray him.”
surely the us navy wasn’t waiting for a presidential order to shoot down a drone.
presidential orders have never brought prosperity to amerika in my lifetime. ever. kennedy is dead
president order to shoot down a drone.
surveillance drone blow up. usa f-35 jet shot down the drone in iranian arabian sea
aggresive iran drone fly over persian golf.