this iranian drone Iranian media stated that the aircraft shot down by the US military in the Arabian Sea was performing a surveillance mission as part of a “routine legal mission in international waters.”

Tasnim News Agency is affiliated to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). sources quoted on Wednesday as said Drones operated by IRGC Reconnaissance photos were successfully transmitted to the command center before communications were lost.

The source added that the drone was “performing a routine and lawful mission in international waters” and was engaged in surveillance and imaging missions.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military shot down the Iranian drone after it “aggressively approached a target.” U.S. Navy aircraft carrier The intent was unclear,” a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) previously told Fox News.

The U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone approaching the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, officials said

The Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) is on display at North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego, California, on August 11, 2025. (Mike Black/Reuters)

“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Capt. Tim Hawkins added that an Iranian Shahed-139 drone maneuvered unnecessarily toward the ship while it was crossing the Arabian Sea about 500 miles off Iran’s southern coast.

U.S. Central Command also said: “Despite the de-escalation measures taken by the U.S. military in international waters, the Iranian drone continued to fly towards the ship.” “One of the Abraham Lincoln’s F-35C fighter jets shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and protected the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.”

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In this photo released in August 2024, the USS Abraham Lincoln sails in the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman)

Hawkins said no U.S. service members were injured and no U.S. equipment was damaged in the incident.

The USS Abraham Lincoln is sailing through the Middle East after President Donald Trump said last week that “a huge armada is heading to Iran.”

On August 10, 2024, an F/A-18F Super Hornet belonging to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41 prepared to conduct an interception landing on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communications Specialist Seaman Apprentice Daniel Kimmelman/Reuters)

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Hawkins also told Fox News on Tuesday that “in a separate incident a few hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, IRGC forces harassed a U.S.-flagged commercial vessel with a U.S. crew that was legally transiting an international sea lane.”