Iran claims it flew drone over US aircraft carrier, snapped photos

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Iran releases videos of drone surveillance of US carrier

Raw video: Iranian state media says it captured 'precise' images of a US Navy drill

Iran claimed Friday it flew a surveillance drone over a U.S. aircraft carrier and took "precise" photographs as part of an ongoing naval drill, as Iranian TV broadcasted video purportedly showing the incident.

The U.S. Navy confirmed to Fox News that an unarmed Iranian drone flew “directly over” the USS Harry Truman earlier this month on Jan. 12, but did not say whether it was the same incident.

That happened on the same day Iran captured 10 U.S. Navy sailors accused of "trespassing." It also was less than a week before the U.S. and European nations lifted sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, but months after their initial deal was signed.

A video circulating on social media linked to Iranian news agencies -- purportedly taken from a drone -- shows a bird’s eye view of an aircraft carrier moving in water, with multiple planes parked on its deck.

The footage later zoomed into a row of fighter jets. There were no identifying marks visible on the carrier.

"I am not in a position to confirm the Iranian video or if the event described in Iranian media reports is the one from Jan. 12,” said Commander Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet based in Bahrain. “As previously noted, we are confident in our ability to respond appropriately as the situation dictates and will defend ourselves should that prove necessary."

Stephens said an unarmed Iranian drone flew near the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and "directly over" the USS Harry S. Truman on Jan. 12 as the vessels were in international waters in the Persian Gulf.

He said the drone "posed no danger to the ship" as the unmanned aircraft was unarmed and the carrier wasn't conducting flight operations at the time.

"It was, however, abnormal and unprofessional," Stephens said.

When the carrier transited the Strait of Hormuz in late December, Iranian missile boats launched unguided rockets 1,500 yards away from the U.S. aircraft carrier. The Navy called the act "highly provocative" at the time.

The captured U.S. Navy sailors had entered Iranian territorial waters near Farsi Island, an outpost in the middle of the Persian Gulf that has been used as a base for Revolutionary Guard speedboats since the 1980s. The sailors were released within a day, though Iranian state media aired footage of the sailors' capture, angering U.S. politicians.

The report by state television said the drone flight occurred on the third day of the naval exercise, suggesting it happened Friday. Later, its website and the semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, published footage it said was of the drone's flight.

Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, the commander of Iran's navy, called the drone overflight "a sign of bravery."

It "allowed our men to go so close to the warship and shoot such a beautiful and accurate footage of the combat units of the foreign forces," he told state television.

State television and the state-run IRNA news agency said an Iranian light submarine also participated in the surveillance operation. When asked about the submarine report, Stephens said "Iran has several submarines underway for its current exercise," but declined to discuss specifics.

The Iranian report did not name the U.S. vessel filmed by the drone. The nuclear-powered USS Harry S. Truman, based out of Norfolk, Virginia, is in the Persian Gulf region launching airstrikes and supporting operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Stephens said the drone report would not affect its operations.

"I can say that we are confident in the ability of U.S. naval forces operating in the region to respond appropriately as the situation dictates, and will exercise our right to defend our forces against any threat," he said.

Separately, state television said Iran's navy successfully fired surface-to-surface Noor cruise missiles during the drill at mock targets. Iran has announced other military exercises in the past to demonstrate the capabilities of its armed forces.

Iran's navy began the naval drill this week over a 1.16-million-square-mile area including parts of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean. Iran said Wednesday its navy warned a U.S. warship to leave an area of the naval drill. The U.S. Navy later denied its operations were affected by the Iranian drill.

While Iran recently struck the nuclear deal with world powers including the U.S., its naval forces have continued its maneuvers. Iran has more than 1,240 miles of shoreline facing the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The U.S. has criticized some of those maneuvers, including what it called a "highly provocative" Iranian rocket test fire in December near its warships and commercial traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran denied launching rockets, though the U.S. later released footage showing the rocket fire.

The Strait of Hormuz, which sees nearly a third of all oil traded by sea pass through it, has been the scene of past confrontations between America and Iran, including a one-day naval battle in 1988.

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.