Iran’s Revolutionary Guards today said they attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf after the US and Israeli strikes killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) called Iran’s claim a lie. “The missiles launched didn’t even come close,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
CENTCOM’s response came after Iran’s Guards in a statement to the local media claimed four ballistic missiles struck the aircraft carrier, adding “the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors”.
CENTCOM said the carrier was not hit.
“The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime,” it said.
🚫Iran’s IRGC claims to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE.
✅The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by… pic.twitter.com/AjaeHMemtA— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
In another post, CENTCOM said its forces struck an Iranian Jamaran-class corvette during the start of Operation Epic Fury.
“The ship is currently sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman at a Chah Bahar pier. As the President said, members of Iran’s armed forces, IRGC and police ‘must lay down your weapons’. Abandon ship,” CENTCOM said.
Iran’s Claims
The Iranian consulate in Hyderabad in a post on X today said four drones struck a merchant ship carrying ammunition for American warships at the Jebel Ali anchorage. The ship was completely disabled with damage and explosions, Iran said.
“The American naval base in the Abdullah Mubarak area of Kuwait was hit by four ballistic missiles and 12 drones, and all the infrastructure was destroyed, and a large number of American forces were killed and injured,” it said.
Ballistic Missile Attacks On Shipping
Anti-ship ballistic missiles are a relatively new thing, defence analysts say. They were seen widely used by Yemen’s Houthi forces in the Red Sea in 2023. Several reports had claimed these missiles struck commercial vessels that were sailing in the region.
Without naming the vessels, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said two ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz today. One ship was struck off the coast of Oman, the UKMTO said in a statement. Another was struck off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, it said.