Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claims it targeted US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles
The US Central Command denied IRGC’s claims, asserting that the aircraft carrier wasn’t hit and that the “missiles launched didn’t even come close”.
USS Lincoln is relatively close to Iranian shores compared to the other aircraft carrier. (Credit: USS Abraham Lincoln/Facebook) Ratcheting up tensions in the Middle East after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni in US and Israeli strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) said it had targeted US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with four ballistic missiles on Sunday, according to state media reports.
The US Central Command denied IRGC’s claims, asserting that the aircraft carrier wasn’t hit and that the “missiles launched didn’t even come close”. It ended the message in an X post by saying that USS Lincoln continued launching aircraft as part of the ongoing military operation in Iran.
🚫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
The USS Lincoln is one of two aircraft carriers deployed to the region in recent weeks as Washington sought to shore up pressure on Tehran amid nuclear deal talks. It is the only one relatively close to Iranian shores.
US attack on Iran LIVE Updates
What is USS Abraham Lincoln
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is America’s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and named in honour of the country’s 16th president. The second ship in the US Navy to bear Lincoln’s name, it is homeported in San Diego, California.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is America’s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and named in honour of the country’s 16th president. (USS Abraham Lincoln/Facebook)
What are Nimitz-class aircraft carriers
Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are known as the largest warships in the world. They “support and operate aircraft that engage in attacks on airborne, afloat, and ashore targets that threaten free use of the sea and engage in sustained power projection operations in support of US and coalition forces,” according to the US Navy.
USS Lincoln, along with its strike group, also engages in maritime security operations to tackle threats to merchant shipping and prevent the use of seas for terrorism and piracy. Another important role of aircraft carriers comes to fore when they are pressed into disaster response and humanitarian assistance roles.
USS Lincoln’s Middle East connection
The aircraft carrier was deployed in May 1991 after Iraq annexed Kuwait, but was diverted instead to “support evacuation operations following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines”. Dubbed Operation Fiery Vigil, it became the “largest recorded peacetime evacuation of active duty military personnel and family members”.
USS Lincoln led a 23-ship armada, moving nearly 45,000 people from Subic Bay Naval Station to the Visayas Province port of Cebu. It eventually arrived in the Arabian Gulf where Carrier Air Wing 11 provided combat air patrol, reconnaissance and support for air operations over Kuwait and Iraq in Operation Desert Storm for three months, according to US Navy.
Two years later in June 1993, USS Lincoln was in the Arabian Gulf to support Operation Southern Watch, the UN-sanctioned enforcement of a “no fly zone” over Southern Iraq.
Next, the aircraft carrier was ordered to the coast of Somalia to assist UN humanitarian operations. This mission in October 1993 saw the air wing conduct flying patrols over the city of Mogadishu for a whole month in support of Operation Restore Hope.
Share
