Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it launched ballistic missiles at a US aircraft carrier operating in the Gulf of Oman. The US military dismissed the claim as "false."
According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency on January 1 (local time), the Revolutionary Guard stated that "the proud Iranian military attacked American and Zionist (Israeli) enemies," claiming "the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles." The Guard emphasized it is "powerfully attacking the exhausted enemy's military forces," adding that "land and sea will become graves for the invading terrorists."
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, refuted the claim on X (formerly Twitter), calling it "false." CENTCOM stated "the Lincoln was not struck" and "the missiles launched did not come close." CENTCOM added that "the Lincoln continues to launch aircraft to remove threats from the Iranian regime."
The US military had deployed Carrier Strike Group 3, led by the Abraham Lincoln, and Carrier Strike Group 12, with the Gerald R. Ford as its flagship, to Middle Eastern waters weeks before the joint strikes on Israel and Iran.