US carrier shoots down Iranian drone as tensions escalate and diplomatic talks hit a snag

By Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood, CNN

(CNN) — A US aircraft carrier shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively approached” the ship in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday hours before two gunboats operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps approached a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to board and seize the ship, according to a US military spokesman.

The two incidents occurred days before US and Iranian officials are due to meet Friday for diplomatic negotiations meant to avert a military clash.

In the first incident on Tuesday, US forces shot down an Iranian drone “as the unmanned aircraft aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, which was transiting the Arabian Sea about 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a US Central Command spokesman.

“The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters,” Hawkins said. An F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln shot down the drone to protect the carrier and its personnel, he said.

“No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged,” Hawkins said.

State-affiliated Tasnim News Agency also reported Tuesday that Iran lost contact with an IRGC drone while it was on a “reconnaissance, surveillance and filming” mission over international waters of the Arabian Sea.

The drone had “successfully transmitted its surveillance and reconnaissance footage” to its operators at the IRGC command center before it was lost, the agency quoted an informed Iranian source as saying. “The reason for this loss of contact is being investigated, and details will be announced once it is confirmed.”

Hours after the drone encounter, two Iranian gunboats approached the M/V Stena Imperative — a chemical tanker operated by Americans flying under the US flag in the Strait of Hormuz — passing the ship three times at high speeds as an Iranian Mohajer drone also flew overhead, said Hawkins. During one of their passes, the Iranians threatened via radio call that they would board and seize the tanker. The tanker was in international waters, Hawkins said.

US military forces operating in the area responded when they learned of the Iranian threats. The USS McFaul destroyer escorted the tanker away from the area along with defensive air support from the US Air Force, Hawkins added. The situation de-escalated as a result.

Hawkins said the Iranian behavior was an example of the Iranians’ “unprofessionalism and aggressive behavior” that increases the risk of miscalculation for vessels operating in the area and said their “harassment” in international waters won’t be tolerated by the US.

The incidents come as President Donald Trump has been weighing a major strike on Iran amid discussions about limiting that nation’s nuclear program and ballistic missile production.

Talks between the US and Iran planned for later this week hit a snag Tuesday after Tehran requested they be relocated, that regional participants be excluded, and that the discussions’ scope be limited to the country’s nuclear program, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that the meetings, led on the US side by special envoy Steve Witkoff, are “still scheduled as of right now, but of course the president has always a range of options on the table, and that includes the use of military force.”

In the last week the US military has accelerated a buildup of military hardware in the Middle East, deploying the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region along with three guided-missile destroyers and the carrier air wing, which includes squadrons of F/A-18E Super Hornet fighters, F-35C Lightning II fighters, and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets.

The Navy also has three destroyers — the USS McFaul, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USS Mitscher — in the region separate from the carrier strike group.

The new demands by Iran could complicate efforts by Middle Eastern allies of the United States to broker a diplomatic solution to sky-high regional tensions.

The talks had been set for Istanbul, with foreign ministers from Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also expected to attend.

Tehran is now asking for an alternate location: Oman, the small Gulf sultanate that has previous hosted talks between the US and Iran.

And it has requested the scope of the discussions be limited to the nuclear issue. The US has said its demands for Iran extend beyond an end to its nuclear program to curbing its ballistic missiles and ending support for regional proxy groups.

What the changes — first reported by Axios — portend for the diplomatic efforts wasn’t immediately clear. Already, some American officials had privately warned that Iran may be using diplomacy to play for time in preventing military action.

The two key US participants in the discussions — Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — arrived in the region on Tuesday for talks with Israeli officials.

Trump said Monday that talks were ongoing but continued to point to the large military buildup in the region as evidence of his willingness to order strikes.

“Right now we’re talking to them. We’re talking to Iran, and if we can work something out that’ll be great, and if we can’t, probably bad things would happen,” he said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Jonny Hallam contributed to this report.

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