Fact Check: Did recent strikes against Saudi and Oman come from USS Abraham Lincoln?

PERSIAN GULF: As the conflict in the Middle East has escalated, causing the death of Ayatollah Khomenei and severely injuring Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khomenei, a claim has been circulating on social media platforms that the recent missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and Oman were launched from USS Abraham Lincoln. Let us fact-check the claim.

Claim: USS Abraham Lincoln launched attacks on Saudi Arabia and Oman

Following the recent missile and drone strikes in Saudi Arabia and Oman that destroyed an oil facility, a rumor has been circulating on social media that the attacks were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, attributing the claim to a Russian general.

The claim appeared on X, which came with a caption stating, “False Flag: Russian General Viktor Bondarev confirmed that the missiles and drones that targeted Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman were launched from the USS Lincoln, near international waters adjacent to Iran, with the aim of camouflage and pinning the blame on Tehran.”

Fact Check: False, no credible evidence to support the claim

However, there is no credible evidence to prove that the attacks were launched by the US to blame them on the Islamic Republic.

Also, the account that posted the claim comes from a profile that is not credible. Though explicitly not a parody page, the page routinely posts misleading clickbait content.

A search on Google for USS Abraham Lincoln or General Viktor Bondarev yielded no credible results that support the claim, except for other posts on X with the same caption as the viral post.

If the claim were true, it would have been widely covered by prominent news media outlets.

Moreover, it is unlikely for the US to target its own allies, and then the claim to be confirmed by a Russian general who is not involved in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Iran claims strike on USS Abraham Lincoln, US denies

The claim came after Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy claimed that its ballistic missiles had struck the USS Abraham Lincoln, rendering it non-operational and forcing it to retreat from the Gulf waters. 

Washington has, however, denied the claim, saying the American aircraft carrier 'continues to support Operation Epic Fury.'

In a statement, Iran's Central Headquarters of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said that a precision operation involving advanced missiles and drones struck the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier approximately 340 kilometres from Iran's maritime borders in the Sea of Oman.

Iran's state TV reported that following the strike, the US vessel and its accompanying strike group were seen 'fleeing the area at high speed.'