U.S. Shoots Down Iranian Shahed-139 Drone Approaching USS Abraham Lincoln in Arabian Sea

The United States shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone that approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, with CENTCOM saying the drone approached aggressively and with unclear intent.

“CNN's Pamela Brown is the first American journalist reporting from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea at a time of escalating tensions between the US and Iran”

CNN

CENTCOM said the drone was ultimately destroyed by a U.S. Navy F-35C fighter jet, and it reported that the Abraham Lincoln was about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from the southern Iranian coast at the time, with none of the American personnel injured and no damage to equipment reported.

CNN

Reuters, citing American officials, reported that the downing had been confirmed and said the Iranian drone was approaching the ship directly.

WION said the USS Abraham Lincoln moved away from the Gulf of Oman to the Arabian sea as the US scaled back its forward carrier presence near Iran, and it cited official military logs from July 5, 2026 placing the carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that none of the American forces were harmed and U.S. equipment did not suffer damage after the drone was shot down.

The East News Media Group said the firing of an F-35 fighter jet at an Iranian drone brought the Persian Gulf to a boil, and it tied the confrontation to Donald Trump’s warning that naval fleets near Iran’s shores could lead to unfortunate incidents if no agreement is reached.

Euronews

Axios, as cited by ایران اینترنشنال, reported that Iran wants to move talks from Istanbul to Oman and hold them bilaterally only with the United States, with Abbas Araghchi holding intensive consultations with Omani and Turkish counterparts and the prime minister of Qatar to press the changes.

In a separate diplomatic thread, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that the United States has shot down an Iranian drone and stressed that talks with Iran scheduled to take place later this week remain on track.

WION said the US CENTCOM decided to maintain only one of its carrier strike group in forward position while moving the other further away from the Iranian strike range, and it described the greater distance as giving the strike group’s Aegis combat systems and destroyers more time to track, intercept, and neutralise incoming ballistic or cruise missile.

“After a period of intense tension with Iran, the current operations of United States carrier strike groups demonstrate a flexible strategy for force deployment”

Vietnam.vn

The Euronews report said the U.S. Department of Defense is moving an offensive carrier strike group from the South China Sea to the region under the responsibility of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), and it said the arrival of USS Abraham Lincoln will take about a week, though it added that no confirmation or official statement had been issued by American authorities.

Euronews also said the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), whose home port is San Diego, California, is the fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and is designed for long-duration operations and to project power at distances far from U.S. shores.

In a separate warning about the broader posture, Shafaqna cited Scott Ritter saying, "Aircraft carriers are vulnerable as well, and Iran is capable of destroying the USS Abraham Lincoln," while WION described the carrier’s earlier shift from about 140 kilometres off Iran's port of Chabahar to a new area approximately 207 kilometres further south.