**ARABIAN SEA** — U.S. forces fired on an Iranian vessel that approached the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln at close range, according to two American officials briefed on the incident, in an encounter that has not been publicly confirmed by U.S. Central Command.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operation, said a U.S. Navy ship first tried to engage the Iranian vessel with its 5-inch Mark 45 deck gun. The rounds missed several times. A helicopter then fired two Hellfire missiles that struck the ship, the officials said. The condition of the Iranian vessel and the fate of its crew have not been publicly established.
It is also unclear whether the naval gunfire was meant as warning shots, an attempt to disable the ship or direct fire. Officials did not identify which American warship fired the cannon or which helicopter launched the missiles.
**Encounter near the carrier**
The Abraham Lincoln was operating in the region as the centerpiece of a carrier strike group that has included the destroyers USS Spruance and USS Michael Murphy and other supporting ships. Carriers function as mobile airfields and are normally protected by multiple layers of escorts and aircraft. Approaches that commanders judge too close can force rapid decisions about whether a vessel is a threat.
The reported clash fits a broader pattern of tense encounters between U.S. and Iranian forces in regional waters and airspace. American officials have previously accused Iranian assets of aggressive maneuvers near U.S. ships and aircraft. Iran has separately claimed strikes on the Lincoln that the Pentagon and Central Command rejected, saying missiles did not come close and that the carrier remained operational.
**Few official details**
Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations across much of the Middle East, has not released a public account matching the officials’ description. A defense official declined to add detail when asked. That silence leaves basic questions unanswered: which ship fired first, what type of helicopter conducted the strike, whether anyone was killed or wounded, and how badly the Iranian vessel was damaged.
The Mark 45 is the Navy’s standard deck gun on many destroyers and cruisers and can be used against surface targets. The AGM-114 Hellfire is a precision-guided missile that helicopters such as the MH-60R Seahawk can carry for maritime targets. Officials have not confirmed that an MH-60R was involved.
**Risk of escalation**
Military planners treat incidents around a carrier as especially sensitive because so much combat power and so many personnel are concentrated in one formation. A close approach, warning fire or missed shots can become a missile engagement within minutes. In confined or contested waters, that sequence can have consequences well beyond the immediate scene.
Investigators would typically review radio traffic, radar tracks, rules of engagement and the paths of both vessels before issuing a formal account. Iranian authorities have not provided a confirmed public version of the encounter described by the U.S. officials.
Until those details are released, the report remains incomplete. What is known is limited to anonymous descriptions of gunfire that missed, a helicopter strike that hit and an Iranian ship whose status is still unconfirmed. What is not known — intent, casualties and the official U.S. and Iranian narratives — will determine whether the episode is recorded as a brief tactical clash or as another step in a dangerous maritime standoff.
