February 3, 2026
Dave Decamp
USS
Abraham Lincoln transits the San Bernido Strait in the Philippines on December
25, 2025 (US Navy photo)Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for
CENTCOM, claimed the drone was “aggressively approaching” the aircraft Carrier
USS Abraham Lincoln, which he said was operating about 500 miles south of
Iran’s coast at the time. He said that an F-35 fighter jet from the Abraham
Lincoln took down the drone.
“No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no US equipment was damaged,” Hawkins said, according to CNN.
The US military also claimed that later in the day, two Iranian naval vessels approached and “harassed” a US-flagged chemical tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkins said Iranians threatened to board the tanker and that it was then escorted by a US Navy destroyer, and the situation de-escalated.
The incidents near Iran come as President Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran for weeks. The president has been shifting the pretext for a potential attack on the country, threatening it over its ballistic missile program, protests in the country, and warning that he will attack if some sort of nuclear deal isn’t reached.
“We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones, the biggest and the best, and we have talks going on with Iran. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “But right now, we’re talking to them. We’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things will happen.”
Iranian officials have said they’re open to a nuclear deal, but the US is also demanding limits on Iran’s missile program, which is a non-starter for Tehran. According to media reports, US and Iranian officials may meet in Istanbul on Friday, though the potential talks remain unconfirmed.
According to Axios, representatives from several Arab and Muslim countries will also be attending the talks, and the meeting is the result of diplomatic efforts by Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar. But one source told the outlet that nothing was finalized until it happened.
Witkoff will travel to Istanbul after visiting Israel and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
Araghchi said on Monday that Iran was “ready for diplomacy” and hoped for results. “Iran’s enemies, who failed to achieve their goals, have now turned to diplomacy. These same parties are talking about diplomacy today, even though Iran has always been ready for this option, provided there is mutual respect and consideration of interests.”
If the meeting happens, it will mark the first talks between the US and Iran since the 12-day US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israel launched the war in June 2025, a few days before the US and Iran were scheduled to hold another round of nuclear talks. Hours before the first Israeli airstrikes hit, President Trump said he was committed to diplomacy with Iran, meaning the current US push for diplomacy could also be a deception aimed at keeping Tehran offguard before an attack.
The US wants any deal with Iran to involve limits on its ballistic missile program, which Aragchi and other Iranian officials have said is a non-starter. Iran’s parliamentary National Security Commission said that any talks with the US must be “limited exclusively to the nuclear issue” and a deal would only be acceptable if it leads “to the lifting of sanctions.”
February 2, 2026
The US and Israel on Monday announced that their militaries held joint naval drills a day earlier, exercises that come amid a major US military buildup in the region to prepare for a potential attack on Iran.
US Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet announced the drills and said the US guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black conducted a “routine maritime exercise” with the Israeli corvette INS Eilat.
“The combined training demonstrated the strong military partnership between US 5th Fleet and the Israeli Navy,” the US statement said.
The IDF said in its statement on the drills that it “was held as part of the ongoing cooperation between the Israeli Navy and the US 5th Fleet in the Red Sea arena.”
The US and Israel have been coordinating closely as President Trump has been threatening to attack Iran. The maritime drills came a few days after the top US and Israeli generals met at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, a meeting that hasn’t been officially acknowledged.
A US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln recently arrived in the region, and President Trump has pointed to the “armada” in his threats to Iran. The US is also deploying additional air defenses to bases in the Middle East as it expects Iranian counterattacks if it bombs Iran.
Dave Decamp
According to US Central Command,
an F-35 jet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln took down the drone
The US military shot down an
Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday, according to US Central Command,
as the US is building up its forces in the region to prepare for a potential
attack on Iran
“No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no US equipment was damaged,” Hawkins said, according to CNN.
The US military also claimed that later in the day, two Iranian naval vessels approached and “harassed” a US-flagged chemical tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkins said Iranians threatened to board the tanker and that it was then escorted by a US Navy destroyer, and the situation de-escalated.
The incidents near Iran come as President Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran for weeks. The president has been shifting the pretext for a potential attack on the country, threatening it over its ballistic missile program, protests in the country, and warning that he will attack if some sort of nuclear deal isn’t reached.
“We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones, the biggest and the best, and we have talks going on with Iran. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “But right now, we’re talking to them. We’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things will happen.”
Iranian officials have said they’re open to a nuclear deal, but the US is also demanding limits on Iran’s missile program, which is a non-starter for Tehran. According to media reports, US and Iranian officials may meet in Istanbul on Friday, though the potential talks remain unconfirmed.
News of the meeting comes as the
US continues building up its assets in the region to prepare for a potential
attack on Iran
US envoy Steve Witkoff is
expected to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Istanbul,
Turkey, on Monday, according to media reports, as the US continues building up
its forces in the Middle East to prepare for a potential attack on Iran.According to Axios, representatives from several Arab and Muslim countries will also be attending the talks, and the meeting is the result of diplomatic efforts by Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar. But one source told the outlet that nothing was finalized until it happened.
Witkoff will travel to Istanbul after visiting Israel and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.
Araghchi said on Monday that Iran was “ready for diplomacy” and hoped for results. “Iran’s enemies, who failed to achieve their goals, have now turned to diplomacy. These same parties are talking about diplomacy today, even though Iran has always been ready for this option, provided there is mutual respect and consideration of interests.”
If the meeting happens, it will mark the first talks between the US and Iran since the 12-day US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic. Israel launched the war in June 2025, a few days before the US and Iran were scheduled to hold another round of nuclear talks. Hours before the first Israeli airstrikes hit, President Trump said he was committed to diplomacy with Iran, meaning the current US push for diplomacy could also be a deception aimed at keeping Tehran offguard before an attack.
The US wants any deal with Iran to involve limits on its ballistic missile program, which Aragchi and other Iranian officials have said is a non-starter. Iran’s parliamentary National Security Commission said that any talks with the US must be “limited exclusively to the nuclear issue” and a deal would only be acceptable if it leads “to the lifting of sanctions.”
The US and Israel on Monday announced that their militaries held joint naval drills a day earlier, exercises that come amid a major US military buildup in the region to prepare for a potential attack on Iran.
US Naval Forces Central Command/5th Fleet announced the drills and said the US guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black conducted a “routine maritime exercise” with the Israeli corvette INS Eilat.
“The combined training demonstrated the strong military partnership between US 5th Fleet and the Israeli Navy,” the US statement said.
The IDF said in its statement on the drills that it “was held as part of the ongoing cooperation between the Israeli Navy and the US 5th Fleet in the Red Sea arena.”
The US and Israel have been coordinating closely as President Trump has been threatening to attack Iran. The maritime drills came a few days after the top US and Israeli generals met at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, a meeting that hasn’t been officially acknowledged.
A US aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln recently arrived in the region, and President Trump has pointed to the “armada” in his threats to Iran. The US is also deploying additional air defenses to bases in the Middle East as it expects Iranian counterattacks if it bombs Iran.
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