A US aircraft carrier shot down an Iranian drone that "aggressively approached" the ship in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday hours before two gunboats operated by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps approached a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to board and seize the ship, according to a US military spokesman.

The U. S. is deploying additional air defenses, including Thaad and Patriot batteries, to the Middle East to protect against potential Iranian retaliation.