The US has obliterated Iran‘s largest warship, taking out one of the Islamic Republic’s main launch pads for drone attacks against American bases.
US Central Command also rebuked Iranian leadership for falsely claiming it had sunk an American aircraft carrier in the Gulf.
In a statement on X, the US Central Command said: ‘The Iranian regime’s false messaging machine continues to falsely claim that it has sunk a US aircraft carrier. The only carrier that has been hit is the Shahid Bagheri, an Iranian drone carrier.’
‘US forces struck the ship within hours of launching Operation Epic Fury.’
The Shahid Bagheri began as a commercial ship but was converted into a deadly drone launch pad in 2022.
The ship is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and serves as a hub for Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters.
A 180-metre flight deck was later added to the carrier, where it held UAVs, helicopters, and medium-range air defense systems.
Washington has said military forces have sunk 11 naval ships operated by Tehran in the Gulf of Oman since the start of the war.
The Shahid Bagheri (pictured) is operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and serves as a hub for Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles and helicopters
Alongside a video of a strike on an unidentified ship (pictured) released by US Central Command, they wrote: ‘Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO
Alongside a video of a strike on an unidentified ship released by US Central Command, they wrote: ‘Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO.
‘The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked international shipping in the Gulf of Oman for decades. Those days are over.
‘Freedom of maritime navigation has underpinned American and global economic prosperity for more than 80 years. U.S. forces will continue to defend it.’
This follows the IRGC’s claim that Iran had struck US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
‘The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles,’ the IRGC said in a statement carried by local media, warning that ‘the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors’.
US Central Command denied this on Sunday, writing on X: ‘The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close.’
The region was plunged into chaos over the weekend after the US and Israel pounded Iran with missiles, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
The Pentagon said on Monday that the death toll among American service members had risen to four.
Just a day earlier, the administration confirmed that three US troops had been killed in fighting with Iranian forces.
The rising death toll came after Donald Trump told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview over the phone on Sunday that fighting with Iran could last for the next four weeks.
‘It’s always been a four-week process. We figured it will be four weeks or so. It’s always been about a four-week process so – as strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks – or less,’ the President said.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump said that the US had ‘the capability to go far longer’ than the projected time frame.
Satellite image shows the Shahid Bagheri off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran,
This comes after Iran vowed it will never surrender as it rejected an ultimatum from Donald Trump to lay down its weapons.
Trump told Iran’s leaders to give up the fight which has exploded across the Middle East, with missiles raining down on Israel, Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, and on American military bases in the region.
‘These intolerable threats will not continue any longer. I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military police, to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death,’ Trump said.
He urged the Iranian people to rise up and overthrow the Islamic regime. ‘Be brave, be bold, be heroic and take back your country,’ he said.
‘We’re undertaking this massive operation not merely to ensure security for our own time and place, but for our children and their children, just as our ancestors have done for us many, many years ago,’ the President said.
But Iranian national security official Ali Larijani confirmed the country will not negotiate with the US.
On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia was attacked with drones as Americans in more than a dozen countries across the Middle East were urged to evacuate.
It comes as the US State Department appealed for Americans to leave 15 countries across the Middle East because of safety risks.
Overnight bombing took place inside the Lebanese capital Beirut after the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) warned citizens to evacuate from buildings linked to Hezbollah militants.
A hospital in Tehran was also hit by air strikes overnight. Pictures show smashed glass and debris in the hallway of the Motahari Hospital.
The hospital was evacuated on Monday following nearby explosions, the World Health Organisation said.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country came under attack.
In Israel, 11 people have been killed, with 31 people also being killed in Lebanon, according to authorities.
