Tensions between Washington and Tehran are flaring after U.S. forces downed an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln  aircraft carrier and Iranian gunboats reportedly threatened a U.S.-flagged tanker transiting one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints, just days before expected diplomatic talks are set to take place.

U.S. officials told Reuters that the Navy shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone after it approached the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. The unmanned aircraft was destroyed by an F-35 stealth fighter jet operating from the carrier, according to the officials, in what they described as a defensive action amid heightened regional alert.

The incident came as a separate confrontation unfolded in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a significant share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas must pass.

British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech said that a U.S.-flagged tanker, the Stena Imperative, was approached by six small armed boats belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps while transiting the strait roughly 16 nautical miles north of Oman’s coast.

According to Vanguard Tech, the gunboats hailed the tanker over radio and ordered its captain “to stop the engines and prepare to be boarded.” Instead, the vessel increased speed, maintained its course, and never entered Iranian territorial waters.

“The vessel is now being escorted by a U.S. warship,” the company said.

Tracking data from MarineTraffic showed the Imperative remained within Oman’s maritime economic zone as it continued toward Bahrain, where it is scheduled to arrive at the port of Sitrah on Feb. 5.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO confirmed an earlier report of the encounter, saying a merchant vessel had been “hailed on VHF by numerous small armed vessels,” ignored orders to stop, and “continued on its planned route.” UKMTO said authorities were investigating and warned all ships in the Strait of Hormuz to transit with caution and report suspicious activity.

Iran’s Fars news agency, which is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, denied Vanguard Tech’s account, citing unnamed officials who claimed a vessel had been intercepted after entering Iranian waters without permission—a claim contradicted by publicly available tracking data.

The confrontation follows a week of sharp rhetoric from Tehran. A senior Revolutionary Guards official threatened last week to block passage through the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a U.S. attack, and the Guards held military exercises in the strategic waterway over the weekend.

The maritime incidents are unfolding against a broader backdrop of rising military pressure. At least 10 U.S. warships—including an aircraft carrier and at least five destroyers—were heading toward Iran’s coastal waters as of last week, a deployment President Donald Trump has described as an “armada,” though he has said he hopes it will not be used.

Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran over its violent crackdown on recent protests and its nuclear program. Speaking to CBS News last week, the president said he had already held conversations with Iranian officials and planned to have more.

“I told them two things,” Trump said. “No. 1, no nuclear. And No. 2, stop killing protesters. They’re killing them by the thousands.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)