The Gulf erupted into crisis tonight as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a coordinated missile and drone strike on the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, boasting of “four confirmed hits” that have stunned Washington and rattled global markets.

According to Iranian state media, the attack began with a swarm of fast‑flying kamikaze drones meant to saturate the carrier group’s defenses. Pentagon sources privately acknowledge that two drones slammed into the Lincoln’s flight deck, sparking fires among parked aircraft and forcing emergency shutdown of flight operations.

Minutes later, U.S. radar tracked two anti‑ship missiles streaking in low over the water. One was intercepted just short of the carrier; the other reportedly detonated near the starboard side, damaging sensors and communications arrays and injuring several sailors with shrapnel and blast shock.

The U.S. Navy insists the Lincoln remains “fully afloat and mission capable,” but photos leaking from crew families show scorched deck plating, twisted metal and firefighting foam blanketing parts of the ship.

In Tehran, crowds celebrate what the IRGC calls “a slap to the American face,” warning that more strikes will follow if U.S. forces stay in the Gulf. In Washington, emergency meetings are underway as hawks demand punishing retaliation and naval commanders quietly brace for a drawn‑out contest: can America keep its carrier spearhead in contested waters—or has Iran just proved it can bloody the symbol of U.S. power at sea?