Shafaq News- Tehran/ Washington (Updated at 23:16)
On Tuesday, the US army shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone after it approached the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, a US military official told Reuters.
According to Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, an F-35 successfully intercepted the target before it reached the carrier's perimeter.
In a separate incident, two Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boats and a Mohajer drone approached the M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds, threatening to board and seize the tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported, citing Iranian military and informed sources, that the IRGC operators lost contact an Iranian drone over the Arabian Sea, before they successfully transmitted its data to their bases. Iranian authorities have opened an investigation to determine the cause of the communication failure.
No party has yet commented on the incidents.
Yesterday, the US media outlet Axios reported, quoting sources, that the US Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are set to discuss Iran’s nuclear program in Istanbul on February 6, for the first time since negotiations collapsed and a 12-day war erupted in June 2025.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated in recent weeks, with US President Donald Trump warning of possible military action unless Iran agrees to limit its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and halt support for regional allies, including Hezbollah, Yemen’s Ansarallah, and armed factions in Iraq. Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have cautioned that any strike would trigger a wider regional conflict, prompting countries such as Turkiye and Saudi Arabia to intensify diplomatic efforts to contain the escalation.
Read more: US pressure on Iran intensifies; analysts assess strike scenarios and regional risks