United States President Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran are continuing to try to de-escalate tensions in the Gulf, even as the US military announced shooting down an Iranian drone that approached its aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, that Washington was negotiating with Iran “right now”, but declined to say where the talks were taking place.

“[The talks] are all over. But they are negotiating. They’d like to do something, and we’ll see if something is going to be done,” he said.

“They had a chance to do something a while ago, and it didn’t work out. And we did ‘Midnight Hammer’, I don’t think they want that happening again,” he added, referring to the operation last June in which the US Air Force and Navy struck three Iranian nuclear facilities.

Trump, who has been pushing Tehran to agree to talks over its nuclear programme, has repeatedly threatened to attack the country again over a recent crackdown on anti-government protests. The US president sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Gulf last week, leading to fears of a possible military confrontation.

The carrier strike group, which brought roughly 5,700 additional US troops, joined three destroyers and three littoral combat ships that were already in the region.

Tensions have been easing in recent days amid a push by regional powers for a resolution.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said earlier on Tuesday that he had instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency”, provided that a “suitable environment exists”.

“These negotiations shall be conducted within the framework of our national interests,” Pezeshkian added.

Drone shoot-down

The Iranian president’s announcement came as US Central Command (CENTCOM) said a US fighter jet from the USS Abraham Lincoln “shot down the Iranian drone in self-defence and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board”.

CENTCOM said the Shahed-139 drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier, which was sailing about 800km (500 miles) from Iran’s southern coast, with “unclear intent”. And it “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by US forces operating in international waters”.

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian authorities.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the matter, reported that communication was lost with a drone, which had “successfully” sent data back to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in international waters.

Tasnim said an investigation was underway to determine why the disconnection took place.

After the shoot-down, CENTCOM said that IRGC forces also harassed a US-flagged and US-crewed merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf waterway critical to global trade.

“Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” it said.

Iran’s Fars news agency cited unnamed Iranian officials as saying later in the day that a vessel had entered Iranian territorial waters without the necessary legal permits.

The officials said the vessel was warned and left the area “without any special security event taking place”.