Iran claimed to have shot down a U.S. drone on Sunday just hours after American forces fired a Hellfire missile into the engine room of a commercial ship trying to circumvent a U.S.-led blockade of the Islamic republic’s ports.
The incidents come as Washington and Tehran appear to be nearing a deal that would extend a ceasefire between the two sides, though the exact state of negotiations remains murky.
President Trump said over the weekend that he plans to soon make a “final determination” on whether to approve a 60-day memorandum of understanding to extend the ceasefire with Iran. That extension would set the table for thornier negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program, which remains a key priority for the U.S.
The Trump administration sent a revised peace framework to Iran for review, the New York Times reported Sunday, which includes the president’s new, tougher demands for concessions from Iran.
Meanwhile, the region remains on edge.
U.S. Central Command said Saturday that it “disabled” a Gambia-flagged commercial ship, the M/V Lian Star, after it ignored 20 warnings from U.S. forces and kept sailing toward Iran.
“A U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement.
Since the start of the blockade, U.S. forces have disabled at least five commercial vessels and redirected 116 ships, CENTCOM said.
Since the early days of the U.S.-Iran war, Tehran has sought to shut down commercial maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the movement of oil and other goods in and out of the Persian Gulf. The U.S. responded by implementing a blockade of Iranian ports to prevent ships from leaving or reaching Iran as a means of putting economic pressure on the country and its leaders.
Despite the fragile ceasefire, the two sides are still engaged in limited hostilities. U.S. forces last week hit several targets in southern Iran that Pentagon officials said posed a threat to American troops.
On Sunday, Iranian state-run media reported that Iranian forces shot down an MQ-1 Predator drone.
“The unmanned aerial vehicle was immediately tracked by [Iranian] air defense systems and targeted by advanced surface-to-air missiles before it could carry out any raid,” the state-run Fars News Agency reported.
CENTCOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the claim is accurate.
If true, the shoot-down would be the latest in a string of American aircraft taken down during the Iran conflict, with at least 42 planes and drones lost so far.
At least 24 MQ-9 Reaper drones have been lost during the war, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. At least four F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, one F-35, seven KC-135 refueling tankers and other aircraft have also been lost, the CRS report says.
