Raising tensions in the Middle East after the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni in US and Israeli strikes, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with four ballistic missiles on Sunday, according to state media reports.
US Central Command denied the IRGC’s claims, stating that the aircraft carrier was not hit and that “the missiles launched did not even come close.” He ended the message in an X post by saying that the USS Lincoln continued launching aircraft as part of the ongoing military operation in Iran.
đźš«Iran’s IRGC claims to have attacked the USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE.
âś…The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched were not even close. Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people through… pic.twitter.com/AjaeHMemtA— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
The USS Lincoln is one of two aircraft carriers deployed to the region in recent weeks as Washington sought to increase pressure on Tehran amid talks on a nuclear deal. It is the only one relatively close to the Iranian coast.
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What is the USS Abraham Lincoln?
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is the United States’ fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and is named in honor of the country’s 16th president. The second ship of the US Navy to be named after Lincoln and is homeported in San Diego, California.
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) is the United States’ fifth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and is named in honor of the country’s 16th president. (USS Abraham Lincoln/Facebook)
What are Nimitz-class aircraft carriers?
The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers are known as the largest warships in the world. According to the US Navy, they “support and operate aircraft engaged in attacks against air, afloat and land-based targets that threaten the free use of the sea and engage in sustained power projection operations in support of US and coalition forces.”
The USS Lincoln, along with its strike group, also participates in maritime security operations to address threats to the merchant marine and prevent the use of the seas for terrorism and piracy. Another important role of aircraft carriers comes to the fore when they are pressed into disaster response and humanitarian assistance roles.
The USS Lincoln connection to the Middle East
The aircraft carrier was deployed in May 1991 after Iraq annexed Kuwait, but was diverted to “support evacuation operations following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on the island of Luzon, Republic of the Philippines.” Dubbed Operation Burning Vigil, it became the “largest peacetime evacuation of active-duty military personnel and family members on record.”
The USS Lincoln led an armada of 23 ships, transporting nearly 45,000 people from Subic Bay Naval Station to the port of Cebu, Visayas province. It eventually reached the Arabian Gulf, where Carrier Air Wing 11 provided combat air patrol, reconnaissance and support for air operations over Kuwait and Iraq in Operation Desert Storm for three months, according to the U.S. Navy.
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Two years later, in June 1993, the USS Lincoln was in the Arabian Gulf to support Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of a UN-sanctioned “no-fly zone” over southern Iraq.
The aircraft carrier was then ordered to the coast of Somalia to assist in UN humanitarian operations. In this October 1993 mission, the air wing conducted air patrols over the city of Mogadishu for an entire month in support of Operation Restore Hope.
