<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="US"><span>US</span></a><span> military on Tuesday shot down an </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iranian"><span>Iranian</span></a><span> drone that "aggressively" approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, the US military said, in an incident first reported by Reuters.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier "with unclear intent" and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, it said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board," said Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson at the US military's Central Command.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/elon-musk-french-offices-of-x-platform-raided-by-paris-cybercrime-unit/e9c1f1e4-7454-4bb3-82ab-53181f811c20"><strong><span>French offices of Elon Musk's X platform raided by cybercrime unit</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>No American service members were harmed during the incident and no US equipment was damaged, he added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The incident came as diplomats sought to arrange nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, and US President Donald Trump warned that with US warships heading toward Iran, "bad things" would probably happen if a deal could not be reached.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Lincoln carrier strike group is the most visible part of a US military build up in the Middle East following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/us-shoots-down-iranian-drone-approaching-aircraft-carrier-official-says/d9a0f1f3-3823-4670-a255-ab3346cb6556" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Tehran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said last week Iran was "seriously talking," while Tehran's top security official, Ali Larijani, said arrangements for negotiations were under way.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US military's Central Command said in another incident on Tuesday, hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed a US-flagged, US-crewed merchant vessel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker," Hawkins said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by 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