Idrees Ali

The U.S.

military said this drone, an unmanned, unarmed drone,

was approaching the Lincoln carrier.

The US military says it tried to take de-escalatory steps.

The drone continued its approach, and so an F-35 fighter jet shot down the Iranian drone.

The Iranians are saying that the drone was carrying out surveillance in the region, and it lost connection with the drone, but the reason is unclear.

A few hours after that, in the Strait of Hormuz, which is really this critical waterway, a US flag vessel was approached by Iranian speedboats and drones asking the US merchant vessel to stop.

Instead of stopping it, it increased its speed and fled away.

At which point it was joined by a US destroyer which was in the region and it was able to safely escort this US merchant vessel away from those waters.

It's a particularly tense time.

It's a particularly important time.

And incidents like this really highlight the lack of trust on both sides.

I think there are a couple of important things to remember here is that the incident took place in international waters.

Aircraft from militaries do have the right to operate in international airspace.

What is sort of in a gray zone is when they're seen as being threatening towards another country.

Was the drone just flying in the general vicinity and the U.S.

took it down?

Or was it maybe heading towards the aircraft carrier in a way that was seen as threatening?

If you're a listener, then confused.

I think that is totally warranted because officials in Washington within the administration themselves are confused because this all started as President Trump really focusing on protests in Iran and quite directly telling the Iranian protesters on Truth Social saying,