Washington — U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone flying toward a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, U.S. Central Command confirmed.

The military said the Shahed-139 drone “aggressively” approached the USS Abraham Lincoln as it crossed the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles off Iran’s southern coast and “unnecessarily maneuvered” toward the ship. OUR. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the drone continued to fly toward the carrier “despite de-escalation measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.”

The drone was shot down by an F-35 fighter jet, and no US service members were injured in the incident, Hawkins said in a statement.

The US Central Command also confirmed that a few hours later the forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed an oil tanker with an American flag crewStena Imperative, which moved through the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkins said two Iranian warships and an Iranian drone approached the ship “at high speeds and threatened to board the tanker and seize it.”

The USS McCaul, a guided-missile destroyer that was in the area, responded to the scene to escort the ship with air support from the U.S. Air Force, according to Hawkins.

“CENTCOM forces operate at the highest levels of professionalism and ensure the safety of US personnel, ships and aircraft in the Middle East,” he said. “Continued Iranian harassment and threats in international waters and airspace will not be tolerated. Iran’s unnecessary aggression near US forces, regional partners, and commercial shipping increases the risk of collision, miscalculation, and regional destabilization.”

The US military has increased its presence near Iran in recent days with the help of President Trump called the “massive armada”. The president told reporters last month that the military was sending ships to the Middle East “just in case” as his administration watches Iran’s response to mass protests that erupted late last year.

Thousands of protesters are believed to have been killed in response to a suppression of demonstrations by the Iranian authorities.

The president was notified last month about a range of military options and covert tools that could be used against Iran, two Defense Department officials told CBS News at the time. But America’s allies in the Middle East did calling the president would not attack Iran and are instead working to broker diplomatic talks, regional officials told CBS News.

Mr Trump told reporters last week that he had spoken with Iranian officials and planned to hold more talks.

“I told them two things: No. 1, no nuclear weapons. And No. 2, stop killing protesters,” he said. – They will have to do something.