On Tuesday, the US military announced its U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter shot down Iran’s Shahed-129 drone in the Arabian Sea after “aggressively approaching” the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Despite this, reports claimed Iran sent a second drone to gather surveillance on the US carrier.
While Iran seemed unfazed by the downing of the drone, the act was considered by many as the reflection of its determination to continue surveillance.
However, according to the UK-based think tank Institute for the Study of War, the Islamic Republic has conducted two reconnaissance-test operations against the US Navy in the Persian Gulf, with the aim of showcasing its capabilities and assessing the US defensive responses.
The think tank wrote in its analysis that by initiating tensions at sea, the Iranian government is trying to challenge US naval activities and create a deterrent against a possible attack by the country. Though the proximity of the Shahed-129 drone to the aircraft carrier is not clear, the US military's response could contain important information for the Islamic Republic, especially about how the US Navy confronts Iranian drones within its operational range.
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In a second provocative act, which happened three hours after the incident involving the USS Abraham Lincoln, two small fast attack craft of the Islamic Republic, supported by a reconnaissance drone, attempted to seize a US-flagged tanker in the Persian Gulf, but were met with a response from an American destroyer. The tanker, named MV Stena Imperator, had previously refuelled US Navy vessels.
The institute added that the Islamic Republic likely purposefully selected this particular ship to provoke the US Navy into a response and gauge how and when the United States would respond to similar actions in the future.
Geo-political experts too think Shahed-139 drone launch toward the USS Abraham Lincoln was part of Tehran’s message to US President Donald Trump.
“The Islamic regime is trying to make good on its threat that, if there is another war, it will be a region-wide war,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, the Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank in Washington, told The Jerusalem Post.
“Those asymmetric harassment tactics that the Houthis employed post-October 7 were actually created and perfected by the Islamic Republic for the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz,” he said, adding that Iran used to harass oil tankers and other vessels in the region with small boats, and then it shifted to doing so with drones. Taleblu said that the regime is “poking, prodding and testing Trump’s resolve,” and that was part of the reason the US needed to respond with “pure military professionalism.”