Diyar Güldoğan
07 February 2026•Update: 08 February 2026
WASHINGTON
The commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) visited USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday, as the aircraft carrier transited the Arabian Sea during a scheduled deployment.
Adm. Brad Cooper visited crew members aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, according to a statement by CENTCOM.
“I join the American people in expressing our incredible pride in the Sailors and Marines of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group,” said Cooper. “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.”
Witkoff said he spoke with the pilot who downed on Tuesday an Iranian drone that approached the carrier "without clear intent."
"Proud to stand with the men and women who defend our interests, deter our adversaries, and show the world what American readiness and resolve look like, on watch every day," Witkoff said on US social media company X.
On Friday, Witkoff and Kushner were in Oman's capital Muscat for indirect talks with Iran amid rising tensions fueled by an American military buildup in the Persian Gulf and repeated threats of military action by President Donald Trump.
USS Abraham Lincoln departed for deployment in November. The carrier and its strike group initially operated in the Indo-Pacific region before arriving in the Middle East in January.
The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group consists of aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln; the embarked staffs of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 21, and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 9; guided-missile destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112); and more than 60 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft, according to the statement.
