The United States (US) military has shot down an Iranian drone that allegedly approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said.
As per the details, the incident occurred amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to arrange nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
“No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged,” a military official said, describing that the drone had “aggressively” approached the carrier.
The Lincoln carrier strike group is part of US military presence in the Middle East following violent domestic unrest in Iran last month, which marked the deadliest anti-government demonstrations in the country since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
US President Donald Trump has warned that with US warships approaching Iran, “bad things” would probably happen if a nuclear deal could not be reached. He has also demanded that Tehran make nuclear concessions.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office (FO) has confirmed an invitation to Pakistan for participation in the Iran-US talks amid record high tensions between Tehran and Washington.
“Pakistan has received the invitation for the upcoming talks between Iran and the United States,” FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said while responding to a query Tuesday.
Reports quoted sources as saying that Pakistan’s participation was seen as crucial to defusing tensions as Islamabad had been quietly working to facilitate the talks.
It was also reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is expected to participate in the meeting likely to take place in Turkiye on Friday.
The priority of the talks is to avoid any conflict and de-escalate tensions between the two sides, a regional official told Reuters, adding that some regional powers were also invited.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some of the countries invited to the talks at the foreign ministers’ level included Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed that he has instructed FM Araghchi to pursue “fair and equitable negotiations” provided that an environment “free from threats and unreasonable expectations”.
The talks will be held “within the framework of our national interests”, he said in a series of posts on X.