US-Iran drone encounter clouds prospects for talks

CAIRO - A drone belonging to Iran's armed forces completed a "surveillance mission" in international waters Tuesday, Iranian media reported, shortly after the US military said it had shot down an Iranian aircraft that "aggressively approached" an aircraft carrier.

Citing unnamed sources, the Fars news agency reported that the drone "successfully" monitored military movements in areas adjacent to Iran and transmitted data to ground bases in real time. The report described such missions as vital for the "overall monitoring" of the region. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted an informed source as saying that Iran had lost contact with one of its drones, the cause of which is under investigation and will be announced once it is determined.

The US Central Command said earlier in the day that a US F-35C warplane "was forced" to shoot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone in the Arabian Sea. The command said the drone had "unnecessarily maneuvered" toward the USS Abraham Lincoln while the carrier was transiting international waters approximately 800 km from the Iranian coast.

According to the US statement, the drone was shot down in "an act of self-defense." No US troops were injured, and no equipment was damaged in the encounter, the military said. The encounter comes amid tentative prospects for US-Iran talks in the coming days.

Earlier in the day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to pursue "fair and equitable" negotiations with the United States.

Writing on social media platform X, Pezeshkian said the move followed requests from regional governments to respond to a negotiation proposal from US President Donald Trump. He said any talks must take place within a framework of "dignity, prudence and expediency."

While Turkiye has offered to mediate, Tehran appears to be seeking to limit the scope of the discussions. US outlet Axios, citing informed sources, reported that Iran prefers Oman as a venue and favors direct talks with Washington rather than a broader format involving Arab and Muslim states.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said consultations were underway to finalize a venue for talks expected in the coming days, the official IRNA reported. Baghaei said Turkiye, Oman, and several other regional countries had expressed readiness to host the talks, which Iran highly values. The diplomatic push, however, has drawn resistance from Israel.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Jerusalem on Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, ahead of a possible meeting later this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi.

After the meeting, Netanyahu's office said Iran "has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot be trusted to keep its promises." Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported that Israeli officials are seeking US assurances of "operational freedom of action" against Iran and are pressing for a complete halt to Tehran's ballistic missile program and uranium enrichment.

Complicating matters further, Iran is also facing a diplomatic dispute with the European Union. Iran's Foreign Ministry said it summoned EU ambassadors on Tuesday to protest the bloc's recent designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization over its role in the "crackdown" on nationwide protests.

Tehran previously responded by designating EU militaries as "terrorist groups." Also on Tuesday, Iranian authorities said they had arrested 139 foreign nationals in the central city of Yazd during recent anti-government protests.

The city's police chief said those detained were involved in "organizing, inciting or directing unrest" and, in some cases, had contacts outside the country, according to Tasnim.

The nationalities of those arrested were not disclosed. Weeks of protests erupted across Iran from late December to January over the sharp depreciation of the rial. Initially peaceful, the demonstrations escalated into clashes that caused casualties and damage to mosques, government buildings, and banks.

Tehran has blamed the unrest on the United States and Israel.