By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
February 3 (Reuters) – The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, the US military said, in an incident first reported by Reuters.
The incident occurred as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading to Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.
Oil futures prices rose by more than $1 per barrel after the news that the drone was shot down.
The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying towards the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by a US F-35 fighter jet, the US military said.
“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 Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the US military’s Central Command.
Iran’s UN mission declined to comment.
No US service members were injured during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he added.
The Lincoln carrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military build-up in the Middle East following a violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations last month, Iran’s deadliest domestic unrest since its 1979 revolution.
Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since asked Tehran to make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast. He said that last week Iran was “talking seriously,” while Tehran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said that arrangements for negotiations were underway.
IRANIAN BOATS DESTROY US-FLAG TANKER
In a separate incident on Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz, hours after the downing of the drones, forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed a US-flagged and US-manned merchant ship, according to the US military.
“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speed and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” Hawkins said.
Maritime risk management group Vanguard said Iranian boats ordered the tanker to stop its engine and prepare to board. Instead, the tanker jumped off and continued its journey.
Hawkins said a US Navy warship, the McFaul, was operating in the area and escorted the Imperative Stena.
“The situation has been de-escalated as a result, and the US-flagged tanker is proceeding safely,” Hawkins added.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel)