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US Special Envoy for Peacekeeping Operations Steve Witkoff, along with Jared Kushner and Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Saturday on a scheduled deployment.
The visit comes amid tensions with Iran, and Witkoff said service members are “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength,” a day after the US and Iran held talks in Oman to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
“We thanked the sailors and Marines, observed live flight operations, and spoke to the pilot who shot down an Iranian drone that approached the carrier without apparent intent,” Witkoff wrote on X.
The aircraft carrier departed San Diego for the Indo-Pacific region in November and moved to the Middle East in January.
Iran vows to ‘target US targets’ if US military attacks: Report
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner fly to the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Saturday. (centcom/x)
“I join the American people in expressing incredible pride in the Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group,” Cooper told service members. “Their dedication to the mission and professionalism are on full display here in the Middle East as they demonstrate U.S. military readiness and strength.”
It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he will meet President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Wednesday to discuss Iran.
Iranian official says nuclear talks to continue after ‘good start’ to US, Tehran talks in Oman
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew to the USS Lincoln with Adam Cooper on Saturday, according to officials. (centcom/x)
“The prime minister believes that all negotiations should include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said, referring to Tehran’s support for groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
The last meeting of the two leaders was in September.
Trump described Friday’s Oman talks, which also included Witkoff and Kushner, as “very good.”
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner welcome Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Hamad Al Busaidi ahead of US-Iran talks in the Omani capital Muscat on Friday. (Oman Foreign Ministry/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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“It looks like Iran wants to make a deal very badly,” the president told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Mar-a-Lago. “We’ll have to see what that deal is.”
