Iran Says Revolutionary Guards 'Struck' Aircraft Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

Hyderabad: Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that they have attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf after US and Israeli strikes killed the country's supreme leader.

"The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles," the Guards said in a statement carried by local media, warning that "the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors".

The Pentagon, however, denied Iran's claim to have struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles in the Gulf. "The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close," US Central Command said on X.

Homeported in San Diego, California, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is America’s fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The ship was named in honour of the nation’s 16th president and is the second ship in the U.S. Navy to bear his name.

According to the US Navy, the aircraft carriers are the centrepiece of America's naval forces. On any given day, aircraft carriers exercise the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Navigation Directions of Warfighting First, Being Ready and Operating Forward.

The largest warships in the world, Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, 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 U.S. and coalition forces.

The aircraft carrier and its strike group also engage in maritime security operations to interdict threats to merchant shipping and prevent the use of the seas for terrorism and piracy. Aircraft carriers also provide unique capabilities for disaster response and humanitarian assistance. (With agency inputs)