US aircraft carrier scrambles fighter jet to down 'aggressive' Iranian drone as tensions rise ahead of talks

A US fighter jet has shot down an Iranian drone that was flying "aggressively" towards an aircraft carrier, the US military has said.

The incident in the Arabian Sea comes as Washington prepares for talks with Tehran later this week.

The Shahed-139 drone had approached the USS Abraham Lincoln with "unclear intent" before it was downed by an F-35C fighter launched from the vessel, US military spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said in a statement on Tuesday.

Capt Hawkins said the aircraft "continued to fly towards the ship, part of a "large armada" deployed in the region, despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters".

No US personnel were harmed, and no equipment was damaged, in the incident, about 500 miles (800km) from Iran's southern coast, he said.

Reports in Iran appeared to dispute the US version of events, as ​media sources, including ​the semi-official Fars ‍news agency, said an ‌Iranian drone completed ​a "surveillance mission ⁠in international waters".

Hours later, Iranian forces, including a drone, harassed a US-flagged and crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz.

Two boats carrying Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, and a Mohajer drone, approached the Stena Imperative "at high speeds, and threatened to board and seize the tanker", Mr Hawkins said.

The destroyer USS McFaul responded, escorting the Stena Imperative "with defensive air support from the US Air Force", the statement said, adding that the merchant vessel was now sailing safely.

White House ​Press ​Secretary Karoline ‍Leavitt, who confirmed the US had shot down the drone on Fox News, said talks with Tehran scheduled for later this week in Turkey, will still go ahead.

Tensions are high between the long-time enemies as US President Donald Trump tries to get Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme.

On Monday, he told reporters that his administration had "talks going on with Iran. We'll see how it all works out".

He wouldn't say what, if any, threshold he had for military action against the country, which Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said would lead to a regional war.

The drone shooting came hours after Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's president, said that he told the country's foreign minister to "pursue fair and equitable negotiations" with the US, one of the first clear signs from Tehran that it wants to try to negotiate with Washington.

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Iran's government spent weeks putting down protests that began in late December against growing economic instability before broadening into a challenge to the Islamic Republic.

Anywhere between 33,000 and 50,000 people died in the violence, according to estimates from human rights organisations and doctors.

Tehran has admitted that 3,117 people have been killed, the majority of them being security forces and civilians, rather than protesters.

Mr Trump promised in early January to "rescue" Iranians from their government's bloody crackdown.

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