A severe fire aboard the US Navy's largest aircraft carrier burned for more than 30 hours last week, leaving dozens of crew members with smoke inhalation, according to reports amplified by Iranian media.
A severe fire aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, the United States' largest aircraft carrier, burned for more than 30 hours last week, according to reports highlighted by Iranian media. The incident resulted in smoke inhalation injuries for dozens of crew members.
The details were circulated by خبرفوری ࡆ اخبارفوری مذاکره ࡆ جنگ فوری, a Farsi-language breaking news channel actively covering the escalating US-Iran conflict. Citing a Monday report from the New York Times based on unnamed military officials and sailors, the Iranian channel reported that the blaze occurred in the warship's laundry room and took more than a day to extinguish.
The channel contrasted the newly reported severity of the incident with the official US military narrative. According to the Telegram source, the US Navy previously announced in a statement that the fire had been contained and claimed that only two sailors suffered minor injuries. Crucially, the US Navy explicitly stated that the fire "is not related to the conflicts related to the Iran war."
This explicit denial of Iranian involvement comes during a period of intense direct conflict between the two nations. Recently, US CENTCOM forces destroyed dozens of targets on Iran's Kharg Island under "Operation Epic Wrath," while Iran launched retaliatory attacks against US military targets in Erbil, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia. The narrative of an extended vulnerability aboard America's premier warship has been heavily amplified across Iranian Telegram networks, including channels such as حامیان پزشکیان and آخرین خبر.
The Iranian channels are amplifying a New York Times report about an accident on a US aircraft carrier, specifically emphasizing the US Navy's denial of any connection to the ongoing US-Iran war. This highlights American military vulnerabilities and discrepancies in casualty reporting during a period of intense regional combat.