Iran has fired cruise missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the military said in a statement carried by state television, warning of further launches when the strike group’s ships come in range, AFP reports.

“The Iranian Navy’s Qader cruise missiles (shore-based anti-ship missile) targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier belonging to the US and forced it to change its position,” the statement said.

It cited Navy chief Admiral Shahram Irani, who said the carrier group’s movements were “constantly being monitored… and as soon as this hostile fleet comes within range of our missile systems, it will be subjected to powerful strikes by the Iranian Navy”.