DUBAI — Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. Navy has destroyed one of its drones, saying all of its unmanned planes were safe, but there was no sign of a major Gulf escalation despite fears both sides could blunder into war.

In the latest episode to test nerves around the strategic waterway, Trump said on Thursday the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a “provocative and hostile action” and had ignored several calls to stand down.

“All drones belonging to Iran in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz … returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control,” Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“And there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer.”

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the drone on Thursday was brought down through electronic jamming.

Gulf tensions are high, with fears the United States and its longtime foe Iran could stumble into war. But despite tough talk on both sides, Washington and Tehran have shown restraint.

The United States has blamed Iran for a series of attacks since mid-May on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery. Tehran rejects the allegations.

Iran in June shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf with a surface-to-air missile, saying the drone was in its airspace. Washington says it was in international skies.

The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] by mistake!,” said Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Twitter, referring to a U.S. warship in the strategic waterway.

Relations between the United States and Iran have worsened since last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran. Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work long seen by the West as a cover for developing atomic bombs in return for the lifting of sanctions.

The United States has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran’s oil trade and says it wants to increase pressure on Tehran to renegotiate the accord, discuss its ballistic missile program and modify its policies in the Middle East, where Washington is allied to several Arab states opposed to Iran.

Iranian oil exports have dropped nearly ten fold to around 0.3 million bpd in June from regular levels of 2.8 million bpd in early 2018.

The United States is struggling to win its allies’ support for an initiative to heighten surveillance of vital Middle East oil shipping lanes because of fears it will increase tension with Iran, six sources familiar with the matter said.

Washington proposed on July 9 boosting efforts to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen where it blames Iran and its proxies for tanker attacks. Iran denies the charges.

But with Washington’s allies reluctant to commit new weaponry or fighting forces, a senior Pentagon official told Reuters that the United States’ aim was not to set up a military coalition but to shine a “flashlight” in the region to deter attacks on commercial shipping.

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FACTBOX-Strait of Hormuz: the world’s most important oil artery </s> Donald Trump insisted Friday that reports of the U.S. Navy bringing down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz are accurate – despite the Islamic nation's denials.

'We shot it down,' the president told reporters in the Oval Office, adding that there is 'no doubt about it.'

Trump warned Tehran's mullahs that the U.S. military has 'the most deadly ships ever conceived.'

'And we hope for their sake they don't do anything foolish. If they do, they will pay a price like nobody's ever paid a price.'

National Security Advisor John Bolton said the identity of the drone's owners and operators was not a mystery.

'There’s no question that this was an Iranian drone,' Bolton announced.

The pair spoke at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

Iran had accused the U.S. of taking out an American drones by mistake after Donald Trump said the Navy had destroyed an unmanned craft over the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi declared that none of its drones had been destroyed, neither 'in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else.'

'I am worried that USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) by mistake!' he tweeted on Friday.

That came after the president announced Thursday that an Iranian drone making 'provocative and hostile' maneuvers had been destroyed, in what the Pentagon later said was an electronic warfare attack.

Trump seemed to disagree on Friday, saying the U.S. 'shot it down.'

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic bottleneck through which a fifth of the world's oil passes each day, and sits partially in Iranian waters.

The president on Thursday called the incident 'the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters.'

Iranian armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi also denied the claims Friday, saying: 'Despite Trump's baseless and delusional claims, all of [Iran's] drones... have safely returned to their bases.'

'There have been no reports of a confrontation with the American USS Boxer,' he claimed.

Iran's military recently shot down a U.S. drone that it said was flying in Iranian airspace, firing a strike with a surface-to-air missile.

President Trump called off a planned airstrike at the last moment, saying later that retaliating would have killed approximately 150 people on the ground.

Trump made his announcement Thursday at the beginning of a White House ceremony to mark the return of an American flag that flew from the stern of an American ship in the D-Day invasion.

An hour earlier he had told reporters at the end of a pohto-op with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte that 'a big event just happened in Iran. A big event.'

The drone was downed in international waters, according to a Pentagon official.

The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington, according to a Reuters report this week.

The U.S. believes Iran-linked militias in Iraq have recently increased their surveillance of American troops and bases in the country by using off-the-shelf, commercially available drones.

The disclosure comes at a time of heightened tensions with Iran and underscores the many ways in which Tehran and the forces it backs are increasingly relying on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in places like Yemen, Syria, the Strait of Hormuz and Iraq.

Beyond surveillance, Iranian drones can drop munitions and even carry out 'a kamikaze flight where they load it up with explosives and fly it into something,' according to a U.S. official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Iran now flies two or three drones over Gulf waters every day, the U.S. official estimated, making it a core part of Tehran's effort to monitor the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States and Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of carrying out attacks against six oil tankers near the Strait in the past two months, a claim Tehran has denied.

'We have seen an uptick in drone activity in Iraq near our bases and facilities,' the official said. 'Certainly the drones that we have seen are more of the commercial off-the-shelf variant. So they're obviously a deniable type UAV-activity in Iraq.'

In recent weeks, mortars and rockets have been fired at bases in Iraq where U.S. forces are located but no American troops have been injured.

Iraqi militia groups linked to Iran began using drones in 2014 and 2015 in battles to retake territory from ISIS.

These groups received training on the use of drones from members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah, according to Iraqi security officials with knowledge of militia activities.

'Key militia groups have the ability to launch aerial attacks using drones. Will they target American interests? That hasn't happened yet,' said one Iraqi security official.

'They used Katyusha and mortars in very restricted attacks against American interests in Iraq to send a message rather than trying to inflict damage. Using explosive-laden drones is very possible once we have a worsening situation between Tehran and Washington.'

In March, Iran boasted about a complex military exercise involving 50 drones. In a slickly edited video aired on state TV, waves of drones streak across a clear blue sky, bombing buildings on an island in the Gulf.

The show of force was intended to highlight Iran's locally developed UAV program, which it has been building up for several years.

U.S. forces shot down Iranian-made drones in 2017 in Syria, after deeming them a threat to both U.S.-backed forces and their advisers. </s> Iran says new images will 'disprove' Trump claim that US destroyed its drone

Iran says new images will 'disprove' Trump claim that US destroyed its drone

Mr Trump says the USS Boxer destroyed the drone after it came too close. File pic

Iran has said it will release drone images that disprove President Donald Trump's claims that a US warship destroyed an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz after it ignored warnings to back off.

The incident escalated tensions between the countries, less than a month after Iran downed an American drone in the same waterway and Mr Trump came close to retaliating with a military strike.

The Iranian military said all of its drones had returned safely to their bases and denied there was any confrontation with a US vessel the previous day.

On Friday, Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Aragchi tweeted: "We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else."

Mr Trump said USS Boxer took "defensive action" after the drone ignored repeated warnings and came within 1,000 yards of the ship.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it would provide images from the drone, taken both before and after the US claimed it was destroyed.

It said the drone had been carrying out regular surveillance when the American vessel arrived and transmitted photos of the ship, but did not say when the images would be released.

The statement added that Guard forces continued to carefully monitor all movements of foreigners, especially the "terrorist forces" of the US and the British in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf.

In response to the statement, the US said it would destroy any Iranian drones that fly too closely to its ship.

A senior Trump administration official said they have "clear evidence" that it shot down such a drone on Thursday.

"If they fly too close to our ships, they'll continue to be shot down," the official told reporters at a briefing.

The official added that a video of the incident could be released by the Pentagon.

The strait is a vital shipping lane for oil and gas and is at the mouth of the Gulf.

However, it has become a flash-point following the US decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran and impose strict sanctions that are seriously damaging its economy.

A foreign tanker was seized by Iranian authorities in the strait on Sunday, according to state television.

It claimed the ship - which was not named but is believed to be the Panamanian-flagged MT Riah - was smuggling a million litres of oil out of the country.

Earlier this week, the head of Gibraltar's government met privately with Iranian officials in a bid to defuse tensions surrounding the seizure of an Iranian supertanker near the British overseas territory.

Chief minister Fabian Picardo said on Friday that the meeting at the Foreign Office in London "was both constructive and positive".

He said he wants to "de-escalate" the situation after the interception of the Panama-flagged Grace 1 tanker off the southern tip of Spain on 4 July.

Gibraltar later said the Supreme Court has extended for 30 days the detention of the supertanker. The government said the court has set 15 August as the date for the new hearing.

British Royal Marines boarded the ship on 4 July and Gibraltar police have arrested the vessel's captain and chief officer, as well as two second mates as part of their investigation. </s> on Friday denied US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the has destroyed one of its drones, saying all of its unmanned planes were accounted for, amid growing concern that both sides could blunder into a war in the Gulf.

In the latest episode to test nerves around the strategic waterway, Trump said on Thursday the drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of the US warship Boxer in a “provocative and hostile action” and had ignored several calls to stand down.

“All drones belonging to in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz ... returned safely to their bases after their mission of identification and control,” said Abolfazl Shekarchi, a senior armed forces spokesman.



“And there is no report of any operational response by USS Boxer.” A US official said the drone on Thursday was brought down through electronic jamming.



Gulf tensions are high, with fears the United States and its longtime foe Iran could stumble into war. But despite tough talk on both sides, Washington and Tehran have shown restraint.



Tehran on Thursday signalled a willingness to engage in diplomacy with a modest offer on its nuclear work - ratification of a document prescribing more intrusive nuclear inspections if Washington abandoned its economic sanctions.



While U.S. officials suggested they viewed the idea as a non-starter, analysts said it could provide an opening for Trump’s administration to pursue diplomacy.



German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she was concerned about the situation in the Gulf.



“Of course I’m concerned. You can’t look at this region without being concerned at the moment,” Merkel told a news conference. “Every opportunity for diplomatic contact should be attempted to avoid an escalation.”



In the latest development in a standoff between Iran and Britain that has also stoked Gulf tensions, Gibraltar’s supreme court granted a 30-day extension to allow authorities to detain the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 until Aug. 15.



Iran has vowed to respond to what it calls Britain’s “piracy” over the seizure of the vessel.



The tanker was seized earlier this month by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory on suspicion of violating sanctions against Syria.



The United States has blamed Iran for a series of attacks since mid-May on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil artery. Tehran rejects the allegations.



Iran in June shot down a U.S. military surveillance drone in the Gulf with a surface-to-air missile, saying the drone was in its airspace. Washington says it was in skies.



The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington.



Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said in a statement they would release images to disprove Trump’s contention that the U.S. Navy had destroyed a drone.



“Soon, images captured by the Guards drones from the US warship Boxer will be published to expose to world public opinion as lies and groundless the claim,” the Guards said.



Relations between the United States and Iran have worsened since last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran. Under the pact, Iran agreed to restrict nuclear work long seen by the West as a cover for developing atomic bombs in return for the lifting of sanctions.



The United States has reimposed sanctions to throttle Iran’s oil trade and pressure Tehran to renegotiate the accord, discuss its ballistic missiles and modify its regional policies.



Iranian oil exports have dropped nearly ten fold to around 0.3 million bpd in June from 2.8 million bpd in early 2018.



The United States is struggling to win its allies’ support for an initiative to heighten surveillance of vital Middle East oil shipping lanes because of fears it will increase tension with Iran, six sources familiar with the matter said.



Washington proposed on July 9 boosting efforts to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen where it blames Iran and its proxies for tanker attacks. Iran denies the charges.



But with Washington’s allies reluctant to commit new weaponry or fighting forces, a senior Pentagon official told Reuters that the United States’ aim was not to set up a military coalition but to shine a “flashlight” in the region to deter attacks on commercial shipping. </s> Iran on Friday denied President Donald Trump's statement that a United States warship destroyed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf after it threatened the ship, an incident that marked a new escalation of tensions between the countries less than a month after Iran downed an American drone in the same waterway and Trump came close to retaliating with a military strike.

The Iranian military said all its drones had returned safely to their bases and denied there was any confrontation with a US vessel the previous day.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” tweeted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The strait is at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and serves as the passageway for a fifth of all global crude exports; a clash there highlights the risk of war between Iran and the US.

Trump on Thursday said the USS Boxer took defensive action after an Iranian drone closed to within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down.

Trump blamed Iran for a “provocative and hostile” action and said the US responded in self-defence. Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told reporters as he arrived for a meeting at the United Nations that “we have no information about losing a drone today".

After Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal last year and imposed economic sanctions on Tehran, the Iranians have pushed back on the military front, shooting down a US drone on June 20.

Also in the past weeks, the Persian Gulf region has seen six attacks on oil tankers that the US has blamed on Iran, and a tense encounter between Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the British navy. Iran has denied involvement in the attacks or the British naval encounter.

The US has also sent thousands of additional troops and increased its security presence in the region.

Adding to the economic pressure on Tehran, the Treasury Department said on Thursday it was imposing sanctions on what it called a network of front companies and agents involved in helping Iran buy sensitive materials for its nuclear programme. It said the targeted individuals and entities are based in Iran, China and Belgium.

The Pentagon said Thursday's incident happened at 10am local time in international waters while the Boxer was transiting the waterway to enter the Persian Gulf. The Boxer is among several US Navy ships in the area, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been operating in the nearby North Arabian Sea for weeks.

Neither Trump nor the Pentagon spelled out how the Boxer destroyed the drone. CNN reported that the ship used electronic jamming to bring it down rather than hitting it with a missile.

In Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted military spokesman Gen. Abolfazl Shekari as saying that “all Iranian drones that are in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, including the one which the US president mentioned, after carrying out scheduled identification and control missions, have returned to their bases.”

The Iranians and Americans have had close encounters in the Strait of Hormuz in the past, and it's not unprecedented for Iran to fly a drone near a US warship.

In December, about 30 Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessels trailed the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier and its strike group through the strait as Associated Press journalists on board watched. One small vessel launched what appeared to be a commercial-grade drone to film the US ships.

Other transits have seen the Iranians fire rockets away from American warships or test-fire their machine guns. The Guard's small fast boats often cut in front of the massive carriers, running dangerously close to running into them in “swarm attacks". The Guard boats are often armed with bomb-carrying drones and sea-to-sea and surface-to-sea missiles.

Thursday's incident was the latest in a series of events that raised US-Iran tensions since early May when Washington accused Tehran of threatening US forces and interests in Iraq and in the Gulf.

In response, the US accelerated the deployment of the Lincoln and its strike group to the Arabian Sea and deployed four B-52 long-range bombers to the Gulf state of Qatar. It has since deployed additional Patriot air defense missile batteries in the Gulf region.

Shortly after Iran shot down a U.S. Navy drone aircraft in June, Trump ordered a retaliatory military strike but called it off at the last moment, saying the risk of casualties was disproportionate to the downing by Iran, which did not cost any US lives.

Iran claimed the US drone violated its airspace; the Pentagon denied this.

Zarif said on Thursday that Iran and the US were only “a few minutes away from a war” after Iran downed the American drone. He spoke to US-based media on the sidelines of his visit to the UN.

“We live in a very dangerous environment,” he said. “The United States has pushed itself and the rest of the world into probably the brink of an abyss.”

Zarif blamed Washington for the escalation and said that the Trump administration was “trying to starve our people” and “deplete our treasury” through economic sanctions.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran said the Revolutionary Guard seized a foreign oil tanker and its crew of 12 for smuggling fuel out of the country, and hours later released video showing the vessel to be a United Arab Emirates-based ship that had vanished in Iranian waters over the weekend.

The announcement cleared up the fate of the missing ship but raised a host of other questions and heightened worries about the free flow of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical petroleum shipping routes. One-fifth of global crude exports pass through the strait. </s> TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Friday it can provide images that disprove President Donald Trump’s statement that a U.S. warship destroyed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf after it threatened the ship. The incident marked a new escalation of tensions between the countries, less than a month after Iran downed an American drone in the same waterway and Trump came close to retaliating with a military strike.

The Iranian military said all its drones had returned safely to their bases and denied there was any confrontation with a U.S. vessel the previous day.

“We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else,” tweeted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The strait is at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and serves as the passageway for a fifth of all global crude exports; a clash there highlights the risk of war between Iran and the U.S.

Trump on Thursday said the USS Boxer took defensive action after an Iranian drone closed to within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down.

Trump blamed Iran for a “provocative and hostile” action and said the U.S. responded in self-defense. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told reporters as he arrived for a meeting at the United Nations that “we have no information about losing a drone today.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on its website Friday that it would release images from the drone — taken both before and after the U.S. claimed it was destroyed.

The Guard said the drone had been carrying out regular surveillance when the USS Boxer arrived, and transmitted photos of the ship. The statement added that Guard forces continue to carefully monitor all movements of foreigners — especially “the terrorist forces” of the U.S. and the British in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf.

The Guard did not say when the images would be released.

After Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal with world powers last year and imposed economic sanctions on Tehran, the Iranians have pushed back on the military front, shooting down a U.S. drone on June 20.

The others involved in the deal — Germany, France, Britain, Russia, China and the European Union — have been struggling to keep it alive, and Iran has begun breaching some of its limitations to put pressure on them to find a solution to offset crippling American sanctions.

Following remarks in New York from Zarif suggesting that Iran could immediately ratify an agreement to allow broader inspections of its nuclear facilities by U.N. inspectors if the U.S. dropped its sanctions, China on Friday urged Washington to consider the offer.

Zarif’s statement sends “a positive signal that Iran is willing to seek a compromise solution,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

In an attempt to defuse another issue, the head of Gibraltar’s government, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, said he met with Iranian officials earlier in the week in London to discuss the seizure of an Iranian supertanker near the British overseas territory.

The tanker was seized July 4 on suspicion it was carrying Iranian oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, further stoking tensions over the Persian Gulf. Picardo characterized his meeting with the Iranians as “constructive and positive.”

The Pentagon said Thursday’s incident happened at 10 a.m. local time in international waters while the Boxer was transiting the waterway to enter the Persian Gulf. The Boxer is among several U.S. Navy ships in the area, including the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that has been operating in the nearby North Arabian Sea for weeks.

Neither Trump nor the Pentagon spelled out how the Boxer destroyed the drone. CNN reported that the ship used electronic jamming to bring it down rather than hitting it with a missile.

In Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted military spokesman Gen. Abolfazl Shekari as saying that “all Iranian drones that are in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, including the one which the U.S. president mentioned, have … returned to their bases.”

The Iranians and Americans have had close encounters in the Strait of Hormuz in the past, and it’s not unprecedented for Iran to fly a drone near a U.S. warship.

The U.S. benchmark for crude oil rose 77 cents on Friday, or 1.4%, to $56.07 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange following the drone claims. Brent, the international oil standard, picked up $1.03, or 1.7%, to $62.96 per barrel.

Thursday’s incident was latest in a series of events that raised U.S.-Iran tensions since early May when Washington accused Tehran of threatening U.S. forces and interests in Iraq and in the Gulf.

In response, the U.S. accelerated the deployment of the Lincoln and its strike group to the Arabian Sea and deployed four B-52 long-range bombers to the Gulf state of Qatar. It has since deployed additional Patriot air defense missile batteries in the Gulf region.

Shortly after Iran shot down a U.S. Navy drone aircraft in June, Trump ordered a retaliatory military strike but called it off at the last moment, saying the risk of casualties was disproportionate to the downing by Iran, which did not cost any U.S. lives.

Iran claimed the U.S. drone violated its airspace; the Pentagon denied this.

Zarif said Thursday that Iran and the U.S. were only “a few minutes away from a war” after Iran downed the American drone. He spoke to U.S.-based media on the sidelines of his visit to the U.N.

“We live in a very dangerous environment,” he said. “The United States has pushed itself and the rest of the world into probably the brink of an abyss.”

Zarif blamed Washington for the escalation and accused the Trump administration of “trying to starve our people” and “deplete our treasury” through economic sanctions.

Earlier Thursday, Iran said the Guard seized a foreign oil tanker and its crew of 12 for smuggling fuel out of the country, and hours later released video showing the vessel to be a United Arab Emirates-based ship that had vanished in Iranian waters over the weekend.

The announcement cleared up the fate of the missing ship but raised a host of other questions and heightened worries about the free flow of traffic in one of the world’s most critical petroleum shipping routes. </s> WASHINGTON/DUBAI, July 19 (Reuters) - The United States threatened on Friday to destroy any Iranian drones flying too closely to its ships and said it had "clear evidence" that it shot one down in a festering stand-off with Tehran in the world's most important oil shipping zone.

Iran earlier on Friday denied losing one of its drones to U.S. forces, while a Gibraltar court extended the detention of an Iranian oil tanker caught in the high-stakes quarrel between Tehran and Washington and its allies.

Tensions in the Gulf soared after the United States withdrew last year from world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions to strangle Iran's oil trade, with Tehran retaliating by unfettering its disputed nuclear programme.

Explosions that holed six oil tankers in the Gulf in May and June, Iran's downing of a U.S. surveillance drone last month, its alleged harassment of a British tanker and the reported downing of an Iranian drone this week have raised fears of war.

But despite the rash of incidents and plenty of menacing rhetoric, Tehran and Washington appear to be steering clear of acts that could cost lives and boil over quickly into conflict, and glimmers of a willingness to negotiate have surfaced.

On Friday, Iran waved off U.S. President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. Navy destroyed one of its drones on Thursday, saying all its unmanned aircraft were accounted for.

Hours later, a senior official in Trump's administration warned that if Iranian drones "fly too close to our ships, they'll continue to be shot down".

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said "we have very clear evidence" that U.S. Navy warship Boxer had downed an Iranian drone. "We're confident," the official said, adding that a video of the incident could be released.

Under the nuclear deal reached by then-U.S. President Barack Obama but denounced as a sham by Trump, Iran curbed enrichment of uranium long seen by the West as a disguised bid to develop atomic bombs. Iran won a lifting of global sanctions in return.

Iran recently resumed refining uranium to fissile purities above limits set by the deal as a means of leverage on European signatories to protect trade dividends, especially oil exports, promised it under the 2015 deal from Trump's sanctions squeeze.

Tehran says its nuclear breaches are reversible if Washington rescinds sanctions and returns to the agreement.

Tehran on Thursday signalled a willingness to negotiate with a modest offer on its nuclear activity - ratification of a document prescribing more intrusive U.N. nuclear inspections if Washington abandoned its economic sanctions.

Analysts said Iran's gesture could provide an opening for Trump's administration to pursue diplomacy.

But the administration official on Friday dismissed the offer made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying he had no apparent decision-making ability and that Washington "would not consider anything from him serious".

Asked whom Washington would need to hear from in order to have negotiations over Tehran's nuclear activity, the official said: "I would say the supreme leader or the president."

He was referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner and the ultimate authority in Iran, and President Hassan Rouhani, a more pragmatic figure who engineered the 2015 deal to ease Iran's global isolation but now signals no compromise in the confrontation with Washington.

The Trump administration official said the president - who is seeking stricter restraints on Iran's nuclear activity and regional behaviour - remained open to negotiations with Tehran without preconditions. He said Washington would maintain the tough economic sanctions regime in the meantime.

"You can't look at this region without being concerned at the moment," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Friday. "Every opportunity for diplomatic contact should be attempted to avoid an escalation."

In the latest episode to rattle nerves, Trump said an Iranian drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 metres) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a "provocative and hostile action" on Thursday and ignored several calls to stand down. The drone was downed through electronic jamming, according to a U.S. official.

The Islamic Republic denied the report and on Friday Iranian state television aired what said was footage disproving that the U.S. Navy had destroyed the drone over the Strait of Hormuz, through which tankers take Gulf oil to world markets.

The video released by the Revolutionary Guards showed aerial views of warships, which it said included the USS Boxer. Iranian TV said the drone had captured the footage and timing notations showed the drone was still filming after Washington said it had been downed.

On July 4, an Iranian oil tanker was seized by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of smuggling oil to Tehran's close ally Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

On Friday, Gibraltar's supreme court granted a 30-day extension to allow authorities to detain the tanker Grace 1 until Aug. 15.

Iran has threatened to respond to what it calls Britain's "piracy" over the tanker's seizure. Britain last week said it had fended off Iranian ships trying to block a British tanker.

Iranian oil exports have plummeted to around 0.3 million bpd in June from 2.8 million bpd in early 2018. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Dubai, Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden in London, Michelle Martin and Thomas Seythal in Berlin Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Toby Chopra) </s> WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) - The United States threatened on Friday to destroy any Iranian drones flying too closely to its ships and said it had “clear evidence” that it shot one down in a festering stand-off with Tehran in the world’s most important oil shipping zone.

Iran earlier on Friday denied losing one of its drones to U.S. forces, while a Gibraltar court extended the detention of an Iranian oil tanker caught in the high-stakes quarrel between Tehran and Washington and its allies.

Tensions in the Gulf soared after the United States withdrew last year from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions to strangle Iran’s oil trade, with Tehran retaliating by unfettering its disputed nuclear program.

Explosions that holed six oil tankers in the Gulf in May and June, Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone last month, its alleged harassment of a British tanker and the reported downing of an Iranian drone this week have raised fears of war.

But despite the rash of incidents and plenty of menacing rhetoric, Tehran and Washington appear to be steering clear of acts that could cost lives and boil over quickly into conflict, and glimmers of a willingness to negotiate have surfaced.

On Friday, Iran waved off U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. Navy destroyed one of its drones on Thursday, saying all its unmanned aircraft were accounted for.

Hours later, a senior official in Trump’s administration warned that if Iranian drones “fly too close to our ships, they’ll continue to be shot down”.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said “we have very clear evidence” that U.S. Navy warship Boxer had downed an Iranian drone. “We’re confident,” the official said, adding that a video of the incident could be released.

Under the nuclear deal reached by then-U.S. President Barack Obama but denounced as a sham by Trump, Iran curbed enrichment of uranium long seen by the West as a disguised bid to develop atomic bombs. Iran won a lifting of global sanctions in return.

Iran recently resumed refining uranium to fissile purities above limits set by the deal as a means of leverage on European signatories to protect trade dividends, especially oil exports, promised it under the 2015 deal from Trump’s sanctions squeeze.

Tehran says its nuclear breaches are reversible if Washington rescinds sanctions and returns to the agreement.

Tehran on Thursday signaled a willingness to negotiate with a modest offer on its nuclear activity - ratification of a document prescribing more intrusive U.N. nuclear inspections if Washington abandoned its economic sanctions.

Analysts said Iran’s gesture could provide an opening for Trump’s administration to pursue diplomacy.

But the administration official on Friday dismissed the offer made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying he had no apparent decision-making ability and that Washington “would not consider anything from him serious”.

Asked whom Washington would need to hear from in order to have negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear activity, the official said: “I would say the supreme leader or the president.”

He was referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner and the ultimate authority in Iran, and President Hassan Rouhani, a more pragmatic figure who engineered the 2015 deal to ease Iran’s global isolation but now signals no compromise in the confrontation with Washington.

The Trump administration official said the president - who is seeking stricter restraints on Iran’s nuclear activity and regional behavior - remained open to negotiations with Tehran without preconditions. He said Washington would maintain the tough economic sanctions regime in the meantime.

“You can’t look at this region without being concerned at the moment,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Friday. “Every opportunity for diplomatic contact should be attempted to avoid an escalation.”

In the latest episode to rattle nerves, Trump said an Iranian drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a “provocative and hostile action” on Thursday and ignored several calls to stand down. The drone was downed through electronic jamming, according to a U.S. official.

The Islamic Republic denied the report and on Friday Iranian state television aired what said was footage disproving that the U.S. Navy had destroyed the drone over the Strait of Hormuz, through which tankers take Gulf oil to world markets.

The video released by the Revolutionary Guards showed aerial views of warships, which it said included the USS Boxer. Iranian TV said the drone had captured the footage and timing notations showed the drone was still filming after Washington said it had been downed.

On July 4, an Iranian oil tanker was seized by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of smuggling oil to Tehran’s close ally Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

On Friday, Gibraltar’s supreme court granted a 30-day extension to allow authorities to detain the tanker Grace 1 until Aug. 15.

Iran has threatened to respond to what it calls Britain’s “piracy” over the tanker’s seizure. Britain last week said it had fended off Iranian ships trying to block a British tanker.

Iranian oil exports have plummeted to around 0.3 million bpd in June from 2.8 million bpd in early 2018. </s> WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) – The United States threatened on Friday to destroy any Iranian drones flying too closely to its ships and said it had “clear evidence” that it shot one down in a festering stand-off with Tehran in the world’s most important oil shipping zone.

Iran earlier on Friday denied losing one of its drones to U.S. forces, while a Gibraltar court extended the detention of an Iranian oil tanker caught in the high-stakes quarrel between Tehran and Washington and its allies.

Tensions in the Gulf soared after the United States withdrew last year from world powers’ 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed sanctions to strangle Iran’s oil trade, with Tehran retaliating by unfettering its disputed nuclear program.

Explosions that holed six oil tankers in the Gulf in May and June, Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone last month, its alleged harassment of a British tanker and the reported downing of an Iranian drone this week have raised fears of war.

But despite the rash of incidents and plenty of menacing rhetoric, Tehran and Washington appear to be steering clear of acts that could cost lives and boil over quickly into conflict, and glimmers of a willingness to negotiate have surfaced.

On Friday, Iran waved off U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the U.S. Navy destroyed one of its drones on Thursday, saying all its unmanned aircraft were accounted for.

Hours later, a senior official in Trump’s administration warned that if Iranian drones “fly too close to our ships, they’ll continue to be shot down”.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said “we have very clear evidence” that U.S. Navy warship Boxer had downed an Iranian drone. “We’re confident,” the official said, adding that a video of the incident could be released.

Under the nuclear deal reached by then-U.S. President Barack Obama but denounced as a sham by Trump, Iran curbed enrichment of uranium long seen by the West as a disguised bid to develop atomic bombs. Iran won a lifting of global sanctions in return.

Iran recently resumed refining uranium to fissile purities above limits set by the deal as a means of leverage on European signatories to protect trade dividends, especially oil exports, promised it under the 2015 deal from Trump’s sanctions squeeze.

Tehran says its nuclear breaches are reversible if Washington rescinds sanctions and returns to the agreement.

Tehran on Thursday signaled a willingness to negotiate with a modest offer on its nuclear activity – ratification of a document prescribing more intrusive U.N. nuclear inspections if Washington abandoned its economic sanctions.

Analysts said Iran’s gesture could provide an opening for Trump’s administration to pursue diplomacy.

But the administration official on Friday dismissed the offer made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, saying he had no apparent decision-making ability and that Washington “would not consider anything from him serious”.

Asked whom Washington would need to hear from in order to have negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear activity, the official said: “I would say the supreme leader or the president.”

He was referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner and the ultimate authority in Iran, and President Hassan Rouhani, a more pragmatic figure who engineered the 2015 deal to ease Iran’s global isolation but now signals no compromise in the confrontation with Washington.

The Trump administration official said the president – who is seeking stricter restraints on Iran’s nuclear activity and regional behavior – remained open to negotiations with Tehran without preconditions. He said Washington would maintain the tough economic sanctions regime in the meantime.

“You can’t look at this region without being concerned at the moment,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Friday. “Every opportunity for diplomatic contact should be attempted to avoid an escalation.”

In the latest episode to rattle nerves, Trump said an Iranian drone had flown to within 1,000 yards (914 meters) of the U.S. warship Boxer in a “provocative and hostile action” on Thursday and ignored several calls to stand down. The drone was downed through electronic jamming, according to a U.S. official.

The Islamic Republic denied the report and on Friday Iranian state television aired what said was footage disproving that the U.S. Navy had destroyed the drone over the Strait of Hormuz, through which tankers take Gulf oil to world markets.

The video released by the Revolutionary Guards showed aerial views of warships, which it said included the USS Boxer. Iranian TV said the drone had captured the footage and timing notations showed the drone was still filming after Washington said it had been downed.

On July 4, an Iranian oil tanker was seized by British Royal Marines off the coast of the British Mediterranean territory of Gibraltar on suspicion of smuggling oil to Tehran’s close ally Syria in violation of European Union sanctions.

On Friday, Gibraltar’s supreme court granted a 30-day extension to allow authorities to detain the tanker Grace 1 until Aug. 15.

Iran has threatened to respond to what it calls Britain’s “piracy” over the tanker’s seizure. Britain last week said it had fended off Iranian ships trying to block a British tanker.

Iranian oil exports have plummeted to around 0.3 million bpd in June from 2.8 million bpd in early 2018.
Iran denies that one of its drones was shot down by the United States on July 18, saying all of their drones "returned to their bases."