With U.S.-Iran tensions looming and amid Iran's various threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, the USS Abraham Lincoln sailed through the strait for the second time in recent weeks on Tuesday. The BBC reports that the US aircraft carrier, on its way to Afghanistan, was accompanied by a cruiser and a destroyer as it made its journey through the channel, passing the Iranian coast. While it may seem incremental, news outlets like USA Today and the BBC are paying close attention to details of the voyage because any action taken by the aircraft carrier or the Iranian coast guard could convey more about the relations between the two countries. 

A BBC reporter on the carrier said an Iranian patrol boat at one point passed by two miles from the carrier, while USA Today adds that Iranian patrol boats shadowed the American craft without incident.

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Alexander Abad-Santos