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- The claim that seven U.S. Navy personnel died in a brawl on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is still under investigation, although there’s no credible evidence the alleged incident occurred.
- The rumor stems from a report from Iranian state-owned Mehr News Agency, which cited another Iranian media outlet, Tasnim News Agency, that cited anonymous sources.
- A spokesperson for U.S. Central Command said the reports were false.
- We have left the story unrated because the Iranian reports did not include enough concrete details for us to fully investigate the claim. We will update this story if further information emerges.
In August 2026, a rumor spread online that seven U.S. Navy personnel died in a brawl aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier on an extended deployment due to the war in Iran.
The claim circulated on YouTube and Facebook. Snopes readers contacted us to ask if the rumor was “true or phony.”
According to U.S. Central Command, however, “These reports are false.”
“As we have continuously seen, Iran continues to spread lies and false information,” Emma Thompson, Central Command spokesperson, said in an email to Snopes.
This rumor originated with Iranian media, which cited anonymous sources, making it impossible for us to retrace their work. While there are credible reports of low morale and thwarted suicide attempts on the USS Abraham Lincoln, reputable news sources have not corroborated whether Iranian media accurately reported on the alleged brawl and deaths as of this writing.
We have not rated this claim because we don’t have additional details about this rumor.
Still, there’s no evidence that Central Command’s statement is incorrect. Given reported communication between those aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and their families — and heightened media scrutiny — it seems unlikely that the military could hide the deaths of seven service members due to a knife brawl.
Claim origins
On Aug. 12, 2026, the Iranian state-owned Mehr News Agency published a story titled “Seven dead in brawl aboard USS Abraham Lincoln.”
Here’s how the report began:
Seven US Navy personnel have reportedly been killed and several others wounded in a violent clash aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as growing unrest among the carrier’s crew has exposed mounting pressure inside the US military amid a prolonged deployment.
The incident erupted after an adviser to US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Brad Cooper boarded the carrier to address mounting complaints from crew members following protests by their families over the ship’s prolonged deployment, according to Tasnim News Agency, citing an informed military source.
Although Mehr News Agency cited Tasnim News Agency, another state-owned media outlet, searches for the original Tasnim News Agency story returned no relevant results on Google or on the Tasnim News Agency website, either in English or Persian.
According to the Mehr News Agency story, crew members allegedly booed and threw water bottles at Cooper, which escalated into a fight among crew members “involving knives and other bladed weapons, leaving seven personnel dead and several others wounded, according to the source.”
Searches on Google, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo found no indication that reputable news outlets independent of Iran’s government have corroborated Mehr News Agency’s report with original reporting. There’s also no public evidence that Cooper visited the USS Abraham Lincoln in August; his last confirmed visit was in February, according to Central Command.
The email listed on Tasnim News Agency’s website returned an error message. Mehr News Agency did not immediately respond to a request to direct us to the original source of its story.
