KATHMANDU: A US aircraft carrier shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, hours before Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats threatened a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said.

US Central Command said an F-35C fighter jet downed the drone after it ignored de-escalation measures while operating in international waters. No US personnel were injured and no equipment was damaged. Iran later acknowledged losing contact with an IRGC drone during a surveillance mission.