IRGC affirms drone strike on USS Abraham Lincoln, warns ships over Hormuz strait

TEHRAN, March 05 (YPA) – A spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Headquarters in Iran announced that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was struck on Thursday by drones belonging to the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The spokesperson stated that the strike occurred after the aircraft carrier approached within about 340 kilometers of Iran’s territorial waters in the Sea of Oman, during what he described as an attempt to control the Strait of Hormuz.

He added that the aircraft carrier and the accompanying destroyers withdrew rapidly after the incident and have since moved more than 1,000 kilometers away from the area.

Earlier the same day, the IRGC also announced that it had targeted an American oil tanker north of the Persian Gulf.

According to Iran-based Tasnim International News Agency, the IRGC’s public relations office said in a statement that, in accordance with what it described as international laws and decisions, passage through the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to regulations determined by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and all vessels must comply with those rules.

The statement further claimed that warships and commercial vessels belonging to the United States, Israel, European countries, and their allies would be prohibited from passing through the Strait of Hormuz and would be targeted once detected.

The statement also said that, in addition to operations targeting Israel, Iranian armed forces were targeting U.S. military bases in the region, including Qatar-based Al-Udeid Air Base, Ali Al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Erbil Air Base in Iraq, Al-Dhafra Air Base in the UAE, and the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

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