Iran claims it forced US aircraft carrier to retreat

Mar 6, 2026 at 04:21 PM

|

Lanka Leader

Iran has claimed it forced a United States aircraft carrier strike group to withdraw from waters near the Strait of Hormuz following drone attacks, while Washington insists its naval forces remain actively engaged in operations against Tehran.

Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on Thursday that the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was targeted by drones launched by the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while conducting military operations near the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Zolfaghari, the carrier and its accompanying destroyers subsequently left the area.
“It, along with its accompanying destroyers, left the area and has so far moved more than 1,000 km away from the region,” he said.

However, Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, disputed the Iranian account, saying the strike group continues to operate in the region.

Caine said the carrier group “has continued to provide pressure from the sea along the southeastern side of the coast and has been attriting naval capability all along the strait and up into the Arabian (Persian) Gulf at a size and scale sufficiently to address the targets required.”

The latest claims come amid an escalating conflict after the United States launched strikes against Iran last weekend in coordination with Israel, aiming to topple the government in Tehran. Iranian forces have since retaliated with attacks targeting countries in the Middle East hosting US military bases.

Both sides have vowed to continue the fighting and have accused each other of spreading false information about battlefield developments, particularly regarding casualties.

Iranian officials claim more than 500 American troops have been killed. The Pentagon, however, confirmed six US fatalities as of Wednesday, all killed in a single attack at Shuaiba Port in Kuwait, and warned that the toll could rise.

Speaking alongside Caine, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth criticized media coverage of the casualties, calling it “fake news” and arguing that it overlooked what he described as the broader picture of American military dominance.

“The press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday that 67 Kuwaiti military personnel have been injured since the conflict began.

Political analysts in the United States say President Donald Trump took a political risk by launching the attack months before midterm elections, given his earlier campaign promise to avoid entangling the country in foreign wars.