Iranian fighter jets fired on US drone in Gulf "The United States has communicated to the Iranians that we will continue to conduct surveillance flights over international waters over the Arabian Gulf consistent with longstanding practice and our commitment to the security of the region," he said. In a warning to Tehran, the Pentagon spokesman said the United States was prepared to safeguard its forces. "We have a wide range of options, from diplomatic to military, to protect our military assets and our forces in the region and will do so when necessary," Mr Little said. Meanwhile, Iran has claimed that the Obama administration has "completely different" views on the Islamic Republic to Israel and the US Republican Party, according to an intelligence ministry report. The report, posted on the ministry's newly launched website vaja.ir, claimed that the Democrats had "pinned their" hopes on a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear threat, and that there was "open confrontation between Mr Obama and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the issue." It was apparently prepared before Mr Obama's re-election victory on Tuesday over Mitt Romney. "The Republican party has a more severe confrontational approach towards Iran ... and its proposed policies are close to those of the Zionist (Israel) regime," it said according to an AFP report. Mr Obama's "Democratic party's position is completely different" on Iran, it added. The analysis contradicts the rhetoric of Iranian leaders and media who daily denounced Mr Obama during his first term, accusing him of aligning his policies to those of Israel in a bid to weaken the Islamic republic.