US military says it shot down an Iranian drone in Arabian Sea

The United States military says it shot down an Iranian drone that approached a US aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, amid continued efforts by regional powers to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.

In a statement on Tuesday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesperson Tim Hawkins said a US fighter jet from the USS Abraham Lincoln “shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board”.

The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C from the Lincoln, which CENTCOM said was sailing about 800km (500 miles) from Iran’s southern coast.

CENTCOM said the drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and it “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters”.

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian authorities on the incident.

The announcement comes as tensions have been easing between Tehran and Washington after US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to attack Iran over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Trump, who has also been pushing Iran to agree to talks over the country’s nuclear programme, sent the USS Abraham Lincoln towards Iran last week, fuelling fears of a possible military confrontation.

But amid days of diplomatic efforts, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that he had instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations”.

“I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists – one free from threats and unreasonable expectations – to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency,” he wrote on social media.

“These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests,” Pezeshkian added.

The talks are expected to take place on Friday, but the venue has not yet been confirmed.

It was unclear whether the downing of the Iranian drone would affect those plans for negotiations.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, “is set to have conversations with the Iranians later this week”.

“Those are still scheduled as of right now,” Leavitt said.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said they are open to nuclear talks, but only if the Trump administration ends its threats against the country.

Reporting from the Iranian capital Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said the exact topics that will be up for discussion between the two sides remain unclear.

Iranian officials have said they want the negotiations to focus on the country’s nuclear programme, while Washington reportedly wants to discuss a range of issues, including Iran’s ties to regional armed groups as well as its ballistic missile and defence programmes.

Tehran also has said it wants the talks to be bilateral – with Washington alone – while the US has shown more willingness to include other regional powers, Asadi added.

“[Iran] is saying it is appreciative of regional efforts to [bring] down [tensions] while the major issue remains to be solved between Washington and Tehran,” he said.

Separately on Tuesday, CENTCOM accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces of harassing a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway that is critical to global trade.

“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” said Hawkins, the CENTCOM spokesman.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency cited unnamed Iranian officials as saying later in the day that a vessel had entered Iranian territorial waters without the necessary legal permits.