A U.S. Navy official confirmed Friday that an Iranian drone flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian gulf earlier this month.
The confirmation comes just hours after Iranian media sources released video footage it claims comes from a drone flying over a U.S. aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman confirmed an incident that took place on January 12, where an unarmed drone flew over the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman in what was described as an “abnormal and unprofessional” move. She was not able to confirm that the incident on January 12 produced the footage aired by Iranian media.
“The UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] was unarmed and posed no risk to the carrier’s flight operations,” said Schwegman in an email to Reuters, “while the Iranian UAV’s actions posed no danger to the ship, it was, however, abnormal and unprofessional.”
Schwegman claims that the drone initially flew towards the French Charles de Gaulle carrier, then moving on to the Truman. The flyover took place the same day that 10 U.S. Navy sailors were apprehended by Iran in Persian gulf area, which Iranian Supreme Leader Khameini referred to as “God’s deed” on Monday. [RELATED: Iran’s Supreme Leader Hails Capture Of US Navy Sailors As ‘God’s Deed’]
Iran’s Fars News says that in addition to the drone’s footage, an Iranian Qadir-class submarine was sent on a “mission to gather intelligence” on an unnamed U.S. carrier.
The claims from Iranian media come as the Iranian navy conducts its ‘Velayat’ war game exercises in the Persian gulf area. Fars news claimed Wednesday that Iran sent warnings to a U.S. vessel operating near the war games, supposedly turning it away. A Navy spokesperson has since refuted the claim that U.S. naval operations in the area changed due to the exercise.
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