US Military Shoots Down Iranian Drone

Incident occurs 500 miles from Iran's coast as tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran.

US Military Shoots Down Iranian Drone
The US said an Iranian Shahed drone had ‘manoeuvred toward’ the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier with ‘unclear intent’ 500 miles south of the Iranian coast on Tuesday © US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images

ARABIAN SEA — The US military shot down an Iranian drone Tuesday that "aggressively approached" the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier 500 miles from Iran's southern coast, marking a dangerous escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran. In a separate incident hours later, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces threatened to board and seize a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, further raising the stakes as President Donald Trump weighs potential military action against Iran. An F-35 fighter jet from the Lincoln destroyed the Shahed-130 drone after it "unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship" with "unclear intent," according to US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. The confrontations come just days before planned talks between US and Iranian officials on Friday regarding Iran's nuclear program and other diplomatic issues.