US President Donald Trump reportedly approved a missile strike on Iran but changed his mind while the planes were in the air.

Trump allegedly made the decision following an intense meeting at the White House involving national security top brass. It was made in response to Iran shooting down a US done on Thursday. However, Trump was said to have backed down on the decision following advice from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, according to sources. At this stage, it is not yet known why the president reversed the action.

It comes just a day after Trump launched his reelection campaign in Florida. During a speech at the event, he warned that Iran had made 'a very big mistake' by shooting down the drone. When asked by a reporter if he planned a retaliatory strike against Iran, Trump said: "You'll soon find out". At a subsequent press conference, the 45th President of the United States again addressed the issue, saying that he did not believe Iran's actions were intentional.

The averted strike was in response to the downing of the surveillance RQ-4 Global Hawk which Iran says was flying in its airspace - a claim the US denied. Tensions have been rising between the two states since Trump's administration accused Tehran of attacking tankers in the Gulf last week. The Revolutionary Guard said: "It was shot down when it entered Iran's airspace near the Kouhmobarak district in the south." Brigadier General Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards, warned against any further aggression and claimed the drone's downing carried a "clear message" to Iran's arch-enemy - the US.

He added: "We do not intend to engage in war with any country, but we are completely ready for the war." The US military said the drone was shot down 17 miles from Iran. Navy Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for the US military's Central Command, claimed no US aircraft were flying over Iran. He said: "Iranian reports that the aircraft was over Iran are false. This was an unprovoked attack on a US surveillance asset in international airspace." </s> WASHINGTON — A U.S. official said the military made preparations Thursday night for limited strikes on Iran in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but approval was abruptly withdrawn before the attacks were launched.

The official, who was not authorized to discuss the operation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the targets would have included radars and missile batteries.

The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump had approved the strikes, but then called them off. The newspaper cited anonymous senior administration officials.

The White House on Thursday night declined requests for information about whether Trump changed his mind.

According to the official who spoke to the AP, the strikes were recommended by the Pentagon and were among the options presented to senior administration officials.

It was unclear how far the preparations had gone, but no shots were fired or missiles launched.

The military operation was called off around 7:30 p.m. Washington time, after Trump had spent most of Thursday discussing Iran strategy with top national security advisers and congressional leaders.

Asked earlier in the day about a U.S. response to the attack, he said, “You’ll soon find out.”

Trump declared that “Iran made a very big mistake” by shooting down the U.S. drone over the Strait of Hormuz. But he also suggested that shooting down the drone was a foolish error rather than an intentional escalation of the tensions that have led to rising fears of open military conflict.

“I find it hard to believe it was intentional, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said at the White House. “I think that it could have been somebody who was loose and stupid that did it.”

On Capitol Hill, leaders urged caution to avoid escalation, and some lawmakers insisted the White House must consult with Congress before taking any actions.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have advocated hardline policies against Iran, but Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said “the president certainly was listening” when congressional leaders at the meeting urged him to be cautious and not escalate the already tense situation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said no specific options for a U.S. response were presented at the more than hour-long meeting. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “The administration is engaged in what I would call measured responses.” And late Thursday, House Republicans on the Foreign Affairs, intelligence and Armed Services committees issued a statement using the same word, saying, “There must be a measured response to these actions.”

The downing of the huge, unmanned aircraft , which Iran portrayed as a deliberate defense of its territory rather than a mistake, was a stark reminder of the risk of military conflict between U.S. and Iranian forces as the Trump administration combines a “maximum pressure” campaign of economic sanctions with a buildup of American forces in the region. </s> DUBAI (REUTERS) – Iranian officials told Reuters on Friday (June 21) that Teheran had received a message from US President Donald Trump through Oman overnight warning that a US attack on Iran was imminent.

They spoke shortly after the New York Times reported that Trump had approved military strikes against Iran on Friday in retaliation for the downing of a US surveillance drone, but called off the attacks at the last minute.

“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Teheran about various issues...He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A second Iranian official said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision...However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”

Iranian state television on Friday showed what it said were retrieved sections of the US military drone it brought down. Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guards aerospace division, said on the programme that the debris was proof that the drone had been over Iranian territorial waters when it was shot down by the Guards.

The Fars news agency said on Friday Iran has told the United States via the Swiss ambassador that Washington will be responsible for the consequences of any military action against Iran.

Because Washington and Teheran have no formal diplomatic ties, the Swiss ambassador in Teheran represents American interests in the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Iran’s foreign ministry, which summoned the ambassador, had told the envoy that Iran was not pursuing war with the United States.

After weeks of rising tension amid a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, Iran said on Thursday it had shot down an unmanned US military surveillance drone, fanning fears of an overt military confrontation between the longtime adversaries.

The New Times quoted a senior administration official as saying, US warplanes took to the air and ships were put in position for a retaliatory attack only for an order to come to stand down, without any weapons being fired.

Targets had included Iranian radar and missile batteries, the paper cited senior administration officials involved in, or briefed on, the deliberations, as saying.

The strikes were set for early in the day to minimise risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, the Times added.

It was unclear if attacks on Iran might go ahead later, it added, nor was it known whether Trump had changed his mind or whether his administration had become concerned about logistics or strategy. </s> US President Donald Trump said on Friday he aborted a military strike on Iran because he it could have killed 150 people, a disproportionate response to Tehran’s downing of an unmanned US surveillance drone, Reuters reports.

Trump said the plan was to hit three different sites in response to the drone’s downing on Thursday, which Tehran said took place over its territory and which Washington said occurred in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

The drone incident aggravated fears of direct military confrontation between the longtime foes, and oil prices rose a further $1 per barrel to above $65.50 on Friday due to worries about possible disruptions to crude exports from the Gulf.

In a series of early morning tweets, Trump said he was in no hurry to launch a strike and that US economic sanctions designed to force Iran to curb its nuclear and missile programs and its involvement in regional wars were having an effect.

He also said the United States imposed additional sanctions against Iran on Thursday night following the destruction of the Global Hawk drone by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, but it was not immediately clear what those economic penalties may have been.

READ: Trump makes sudden U-turn and calls off military strike on Iran

“Ten minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world,” Trump tweeted.

White House national security adviser John Bolton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and CIA Director Gina Haspel, along with the rest of Trump’s team, favoured a retaliatory strike, said a Trump administration official who asked not to be named.

Earlier on Friday, Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran had received a message from Trump warning that a US attack on Iran was imminent but saying that he was against war and wanted talks on a range of issues.

News of that message, delivered through Oman overnight, came shortly after the New York Times reported that Trump had called off air strikes targeting Iranian radar and missile batteries at the last minute.

“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues,” one of the officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He gave a short period of time to get our response but Iran’s immediate response was that it is up to Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali) Khamenei to decide about this issue.”

A second Iranian official said: “We made it clear that the leader is against any talks, but the message will be conveyed to him to make a decision.

“However, we told the Omani official that any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences.”

Khamenei has the last say on all state matters and has ruled out any talks with Washington while Tehran is under sanctions.

Iran shot down the drone after weeks of festering tension amidst a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf region.

READ: Trump says hard to believe Iran shooting down of US drone was intentional

In his initial response on Thursday, Trump said he was not eager to escalate a stand-off with Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile activities and support for proxies in various Middle East conflicts.

He said the unmanned drone might have been shot down in error by someone who was acting “loose and stupid”, though added: “This country will not stand for it.”

In a sign that the United States may be interested in pursuing diplomacy for now, it asked the U.N. Security Council to meet on Iran behind closed-doors on Monday, diplomats said.

“We will brief the council on the latest developments with regard to Iran and present further information from our investigation into the recent tanker incidents,” the US mission to the United Nations said in a note to council colleagues, seen by Reuters. </s> WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump approved military strikes against Iran on Friday in retaliation for the downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but called off the attacks at the last minute, the New York Times reported.

After weeks of rising tension amid a spate of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf, Iran said on Thursday it had shot down an unmanned U.S. military surveillance drone, fanning fears of an overt military confrontation between the longtime adversaries.

In response, the New York Times quoted a senior administration official as saying U.S. warplanes took to the air and ships were put in position for a retaliatory attack only for an order to come to stand down, without any weapons being fired.

Targets had included Iranian radar and missile batteries, the paper cited senior administration officials involved in, or briefed on, the deliberations, as saying.

The strikes were set for early in the day to minimize risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, the Times added.

It was unclear if attacks on Iran might go ahead later, it added, nor was it known whether Trump had changed his mind or whether his administration had become concerned about logistics or strategy.

Tehran said the unarmed Global Hawk surveillance drone was on a spy mission over its territory, but Washington said it was shot down over international airspace in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said initially the downing of the drone could have been carried out by someone who was acting “loose and stupid,” adding that he suspected it was shot down by mistake.

“We had nobody in the drone. It would have made a big difference, let me tell you, it would have made a big, big difference” if the aircraft had been piloted, Trump said as he met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Oval Office.

The destruction of the drone compounded tensions escalating in the Gulf region, a critical artery for global oil supplies, where six oil tankers have been damaged by explosions in the past six weeks.

Iran has denied involvement in the tanker attacks, but global jitters about a new Middle East conflagration disrupting oil exports have triggered a jump in crude prices.

Saudi Arabia, Washington’s main Gulf ally, said Iran had created a grave situation with its “aggressive behavior” and the kingdom was consulting other Gulf Arab states on next steps.

Tensions with Iran flared with Trump’s withdrawal last year from a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, and have worsened as Washington imposed fresh sanctions to throttle Tehran’s vital oil trade. Iran retaliated earlier this week with a threat to breach limits on its nuclear activities imposed by the deal.

The U.S. sanctions have hammered Iran’s economy, scuttling its oil exports and barring it from the dollar-dominated global finance system. That has undone the promise of trade rewards from the 2015 deal designed to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Iranian state media said the “spy” drone was brought down over the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, which is on the Gulf, with a locally made 3 Khordad missile.

Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, the top U.S. Air Force commander in the Middle East, told reporters the drone was shot down at high altitude about 34 km (21 miles) from the nearest point of land on the Iranian coast.

U.S. Central Command later posted a tweet here that included a map of what Guastella called the drone's flight path showing it WAS outside Iran's territorial waters. "This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset that had not violated Iranian airspace at any time," he added.

Independent confirmation of the drone’s location when it was brought down was not immediately available.

The Trump administration is pursuing a campaign to isolate Iran and press it towards concessions on its nuclear and missile programs and involvement in regional conflicts.

Washington said on Monday it would deploy about 1,000 more troops, along with Patriot missiles and manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft, to the Middle East on top of a 1,500-troop increase announced after attacks on Gulf tankers in May.

Trump has dispatched forces including aircraft carriers, B-52 bombers and troops over the past few weeks. Iran said last week it was responsible for the security of the Strait of Hormuz, calling on American forces to leave the Gulf.

In the United States, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, said Washington had no appetite for war with Iran and should “do everything in our power to de-escalate.”

After a White House briefing for lawmakers, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, told reporters he was worried Trump “may bumble into a war”. Schumer said he and his fellow Democrats believed congressional approval was needed to fund any conflict with Iran.

But Trump’s fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, told reporters: “The administration is engaged in what I called measured responses.”

While U.S. rhetoric against Iran has sharped, European states - fellow signatories of the nuclear deal with Iran - have been more cautious, saying more evidence is needed to pinpoint responsibility for the tanker strikes.

They have sought to keep the nuclear deal alive despite the U.S. pullout, but Tehran has told them and other world powers who signed the accord that they must rein in Trump’s aggressive stance towards Iran or it too will bow out of the deal. </s> Image copyright IRIBNEWS Image caption Iranian TV published pictures of what it says was the wreckage of the US drone

President Donald Trump has said the US military was "cocked and loaded to retaliate" against Iran, but he changed his mind 10 minutes before planned strikes.

Attacks on three sites were planned in response to the shooting down of a US unmanned drone this week.

Mr Trump said he had called off strikes after being told 150 people would die.

He tweeted: "10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone."

The late reversal was first reported by the New York Times on Thursday night. The newspaper said the operation had been "in its early stages" when Mr Trump stood the US military down.

"I am in no hurry," Mr Trump said on Friday. "Our military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world."

Mr Trump said Iran had downed the drone on Monday, despite an earlier US military statement that the incident happened at 23:35 GMT on Wednesday (04:05 Iran time on Thursday).

On Friday, the president told NBC News that he decided not to give final approval to the planned strikes because of the predicted death toll.

"I didn't like it. I didn't think it was proportionate," he said.

Tehran says the unmanned US aircraft entered Iranian airspace early on Thursday morning. The US maintains it was shot down in international airspace.

Tensions have been escalating between the two countries, with the US recently blaming Iran for attacks on oil tankers operating in the region. Iran has announced it will soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme.

Last year, the US unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activities.

"Iran can NEVER have nuclear weapons," Mr Trump said in his tweets on the aborted strikes - also revealing that increased economic sanctions against Iran were "added last night".

The US has now asked the United Nations Security Council to meet on Monday to discuss Iran, Reuters news agency reports.

What had been planned?

In its initial report, The New York Times said that as late as 19:00 local time (23:00 GMT) on Thursday, US military and diplomatic officials had still expected the strikes to take place on agreed targets, including Iranian radar and missile batteries.

"Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down," the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed senior administration official.

But Mr Trump refuted this report on Friday, telling NBC that no planes were in the air.

The strikes had been set to take place just before dawn on Friday to minimise risk to the Iranian military or to civilians, the New York Times report added.

Tweeting on Friday, Mr Trump said three sites had been targeted.

Image copyright EPA Image caption The US military identified the drone downed on Thursday as a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk (file photo)

The Associated Press quoted a US official as saying the strikes had been recommended by the Pentagon and had been among options presented to senior administration officials.

According to the New York Times, top Pentagon officials warned a military response could result in a spiralling escalation with risks for US forces in the region.

The operation was called off after President Trump spent most of Thursday discussing Iran with his national security advisers and congressional leaders, AP reports.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton had pushed for a hardline stance, but congressional leaders urged caution, the agency says.

Image copyright EPA/PTV Image caption Iran released footage purportedly showing the launch of an Iranian surface-to-air missile to shoot down the US drone

Separately, Reuters quoted two Iranian officials as saying Tehran had received a message from Mr Trump through Oman overnight warning about an imminent US attack.

That report was later denied by a spokesman for Iran's national security council, who said there was no truth to it and no message was sent.

What does Iran say?

An official warned that "any attack against Iran will have regional and international consequences".

"When you violate Iranian territorial space, then we defend," Seyed Sajjadpour, one of Iran's Deputy Foreign Ministers, told the BBC.

He also said it was clear that there were members of Donald Trump's administration who were intent on overthrowing Iran's government.

What other reaction has there been?

In the US, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said America had no appetite for war with Iran, while the leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden, called Mr Trump's Iran strategy a "self-inflicted disaster".

Russian President Vladimir Putin said a war would be a "catastrophe with unpredictable consequences".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order on Thursday evening prohibiting US airlines from operating in an overwater area of Tehran-controlled airspace nearby in response.

Airlines from other countries, including Britain's British Airways, the Dutch carrier KLM, Emirates, and Qantas of Australia, have also said they will re-route their flights to avoid parts of Iran.

President Trump's decision to order – and then abort – an attack still sends a powerful message to Tehran.

The two countries came to the brink of direct conflict. But in this complex game of signalling, just what message will the Iranian leadership receive?

It, after all, had sent a significant warning of its own by downing an unmanned US reconnaissance drone.

Mr Trump initially appeared to play down the incident – but then apparently came the orders for a US retaliatory strike. That was followed by a last-minute change of heart.

The danger now is that Iran receives mixed messages that convey uncertainty and lack of resolve. This might encourage some in Tehran to push back at the Americans even harder.

There appears to be no diplomatic "off-ramp" in this crisis.

US economic sanctions are hitting home. Tehran is under pressure. Escalation remains an ever-present danger.

What happened with the drone?

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced its air force had shot down a US "spy" drone on Thursday morning after the unmanned aircraft violated Iranian airspace near Kuhmobarak in the southern province of Hormozgan.

IRGC commander-in-chief Maj-Gen Hossein Salami said the drone's downing was a "clear message" to the US that Iran's borders were "our red line".

However, US military officials maintain the drone was in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at the time.

Iranian officials say two warnings were issued 10 minutes before the drone was shot down.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a high-ranking officer in the IRGC, said another military aircraft, carrying 35 passengers, had been flying close to the drone. "We could have shot down that one too, but we did not," he said.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why does the Strait of Hormuz matter?

The shooting down of the drone followed accusations by the US that Iran had attacked two oil tankers with mines last Thursday just outside the Strait of Hormuz, in the Gulf of Oman. </s> President Donald Trump on Friday described a nail-biting decision to call off an imminent attack on Iran in order to avoid disproportionate casualties, but the account is already facing scrutiny from aides around him and military analysts questioning the sequence of events he laid out in tweets and statements.

Early in the day, the president said he called off the counterattack at the last minute because it would kill 150 people in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned surveillance drone. “We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die,” he tweeted.

But administration officials said Trump was told earlier Thursday how many casualties could occur if a strike on Iran was carried out, and that he had given the green light to prepare for the operation Thursday morning.

The confusion reinforced concerns about the Trump administration’s credibility at a time when key U.S. allies are already questioning its narrative about Iran’s culpability for a recent spate of attacks on oil tankers.

The decision has divided his top advisers with senior Pentagon officials opposing the decision to strike and national security adviser John Bolton strongly supporting it.

Iran said Friday that the United States had “no justification” for a retaliatory strike and vowed to respond “firmly” to any U.S. military action.

Trump’s morning tweets appeared to gloss over the fact that he was the one, as commander in chief, who had ordered the retaliation against Iran in the first place.

Trump administration officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security decisions, said the president approved the strikes after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier in the day shot down the Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk, a move Trump described as a “very big mistake.”

But he later changed his mind, the officials said.

The commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace division said Friday that Iran had sent “warnings” to the drone before shooting it down. In an interview with Iran’s state-controlled broadcaster, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said a final warning was sent at 3:55 a.m. local time Thursday.

“When it did not redirect its route and continued flying toward and into our territory, we had to shoot it at 4:05 a.m.,” he said. “Our national security is a red line.”

He said Iran refrained from also shooting down a U.S. P-8 patrol aircraft, with 35 people on board, that he asserted had accompanied the drone into Iranian airspace. His claim could not immediately be verified.

A senior U.S. defense official said Friday morning that the Pentagon had Navy assets poised to strike in Iran if directed, including ships accompanying the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Those attacks could have included airstrikes with jets, or — more likely — Tomahawk cruise missiles, the official said.

Trump’s initial tweets suggested that he had canceled his own order: “10 minutes before the strike I stopped it,” he said. But in an interview with NBC’s Chuck Todd for “Meet the Press,” the president said he hadn’t given final approval to any strikes and that no planes were in the air.

“Nothing was green lighted until the very end because things change,” Trump said in the interview.

In his Twitter posts Friday morning, Trump wrote that “sanctions are biting & more added last night.” However, the Treasury Department did not add any new sanctions against Iran on Thursday night.

There was also confusion about how the United States and Iran were communicating during the crisis at a time when the two adversaries have very few diplomatic contacts.

The Reuters news agency reported Friday that Iranian officials said they received a message from Trump through Oman overnight warning that a U.S. attack was imminent.

When asked about the report, a senior U.S. administration official said the United States never sent a message to Iran via the Omanis. The country at the eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula has long been an interlocutor between the West and Iran, but not on this occasion, the official said.

“It is a complete lie and propaganda from Iran,” the official said.

Earlier Friday, the head of Iranian media services also told NBC News that the Reuters report was inaccurate. He said such a message from the United States was never sent and the content of the messages is also false.

The Federal Aviation Administration late Thursday barred U.S.-registered aircraft from operating over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, due to an increase in military activities and political tensions that it said might “place commercial flights at risk.”

Several U.S. and international carriers said that they had either canceled flights over Iranian airspace or were taking steps to avoid the Strait of Hormuz.

The day’s events have left lawmakers in both parties confused about whether the United States remains on the precipice of a military conflict or if an imminent crisis had been averted.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday that she was not informed of Trump’s plans to strike Iran but described the latest events as a “dangerous, high-tension situation.”

While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed confidence in the president, several hawks in Congress said the only appropriate response would be a swift military counter-strike.

“They’re trying to break our will and intimidate us to come to the negotiating table,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of the Iranians.

Trump’s comments on Thursday also left room for questions about how his administration planned to respond to Iran. Immediately following the drone’s downing, he tweeted that “Iran made a mistake.”

But Trump said he found it “hard to believe” that the attack on the drone “was intentional” on the part of Iran’s top officials. He also noted that the aircraft was unmanned. “There was no man or woman in it,” he said. “It would have made a big difference” if a plane carrying people had been shot down. “It would have made a big, big difference.”

Iran’s strike on the U.S. drone Thursday followed a number of recent incidents, including attacks on tankers, that American officials have depicted as part of an Iranian effort to hurt the United States and its allies in the region. The United States has continued its “maximum pressure” campaign against a country the Trump administration has identified as its main adversary in the Middle East.

Tehran has responded with defiance to the campaign, which was launched after Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and has included designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group and taking steps to cut off Iranian oil sales.

On Thursday, the European Union said officials from Germany, Britain, France, Russia, China and Iran would meet next week to discuss strategies to salvage the nuclear pact despite renewed U.S. sanctions and Tehran’s threat to exceed limits on its uranium stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia’s deputy defense minister said Friday on Twitter that he met with Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, in Riyadh “to explore the latest efforts to counter hostile Iranian acts.”

Hook called Friday for measures to “de-escalate” the tense situation with Iran. He told a news conference in the Saudi capital, “Our diplomacy does not give Iran the right to respond with military force; Iran needs to meet our diplomacy with diplomacy and not military force,” Reuters reported. “It’s important we do everything we can to de-escalate.”

The Revolutionary Guard’s top commander, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, called the downing of the drone “a clear message to America.”

The done incident occurred the week after two tankers, one Japanese and one Norwegian, were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for both incidents, at least one of which is said to have been carried out by use of limpet mine similar to devices previously displayed at Iranian military parades. Iran has denied involvement, calling the accusation “a lie.”

The tanker incidents were similar to an attack on a tanker off the United Arab Emirates in May. The U.S. military also accused Iran of firing a modified SA-7 surface-to-air missile at an MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Gulf of Oman as it surveilled the attack on the Japanese ship.

Also this month, Centcom said Houthi rebels shot down an MQ-9 over Yemen using an SA-6 surface-to-air missile in an attack that “was enabled by Iranian assistance.”

The latest incident came just days before acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan was due to step down. Shanahan, who this week withdrew from his confirmation process after news media, including The Washington Post, published reports about past family strife, is handing responsibility for the military to Mark Esper, who now serves as Army secretary.

It is unclear how the turnover at the top of the Pentagon will affect an internal debate about how to respond to what officials say is an attempt to strike American interests. Some defense officials have voiced concerns that officials led by national security adviser John Bolton, who has publicly advocated regime change in Iran in the past, may be creating conditions in which war is inevitable.

Trump has previously authorized targeted strikes in the Middle East, including on government-controlled air bases in Syria. He was elected in 2016 promising to end American involvement in conflicts in the region.

At the same time, the Pentagon remains concerned about the potential for Iranian attacks on U.S. military personnel, especially those stationed in Iraq. During a visit to Baghdad last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sought to relay a message for Iranian leaders that even one American death would result in a U.S. counterattack.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said U.S. naval assets were trying to recover pieces of the drone.

The strike on the RQ-4 is much more significant than the recent attacks on Reapers. Each Global Hawk, which has a wingspan of 131 feet, is worth more than $100 million and is packed with sensors and able to fly at altitudes of more than 55,000 feet to observe broad areas for periods that can stretch longer than a day.

The Global Hawk downed on Thursday was an older “demonstrator” model, according to another U.S. official, that had been transferred from the Air Force to the Navy to carry out a mission known as Broad Area Maritime Surveillance. The Pentagon has since begun testing a newer cousin, the MQ-4C Triton. Neither version carries weapons.

Hudson and Ryan reported from Washington. Cunningham reported from Dubai. The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey, Dan Lamothe, William Branigin, Damian Paletta, and Karoun Demirjian in Washington contributed to this report. </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates >> U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks Monday with the Saudi king and crown prince after days of mounting tensions following the downing of a U.S drone last week and after President Donald Trump pulled back from the brink of retaliatory military strikes on Iran.

Iran’s naval commander, meanwhile, warned that Iranian forces would not hesitate to act again and shoot down more U.S. surveillance drones that violate Iranian airspace.

The U.S. denies the drone, valued at more than $100 million, violated Iranian airspace. Trump said he backed away from planned strikes after learning that 150 people would be killed but that military action remained an option.

Pompeo today held separate talks with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi port city of Jiddah to discuss the escalation with Iran.

Pompeo wrote on Twitter that he had a “productive meeting” with King Salman and discussed “heightened tensions in the region and the need to promote maritime security” in the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

From the kingdom, Pompeo will travel to neighboring United Arab Emirates, another close U.S. ally. The regional stops, made on his way to India, may be aimed at reassuring Washington’s Sunni Gulf Arab allies that the White House remains committed to maintaining pressure on Shiite Iran following Trump’s last-minute about-face, which likely raised questions about U.S. willingness to use force against the Islamic Republic.

In what it says are defensive moves, the U.S. has built up its military presence around the Persian Gulf in recent weeks.

Iran’s naval commander, Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi issued a warning to Washington that Tehran is capable of shooting down other American spy drones that violate Iranian airspace. Khanzadi spoke Monday during a meeting with a group of defense officials in Iran.

“We confidently say that the crushing response can always be repeated, and the enemy knows it,” Khanzadi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Tensions have been escalating since Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from a global nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran. A fresh round of U.S. sanctions is to be announced later on Monday in a bid to force the Iranian leadership into talks.

Iran has decried the U.S. sanctions, which essentially bar Iran from selling its oil internationally, as “economic terrorism.”

Before boarding his flight to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo described the sanctions as a way to deny Iran “the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system, to build out their missile program.”

The hastily arranged Saudi visit by Pompeo, considered a hard-liner in the Trump administration, and the upcoming stop in the UAE come as both countries have expressed alarm over Iran’s military reach.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have accused Iran of being behind attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf over the past several weeks, while the UAE has been urging diplomacy to avert a wider conflict.

On the eve of Pompeo’s visit to the kingdom, Yemen’s Iranian-allied rebels attacked a Saudi airport near the Saudi-Yemen border, killing a Syrian resident and wounding 21 other civilians, the Saudi military said.

The Houthi rebels claimed they used bomb-laden drones in the attack on the Abha airport, the second in less than two weeks. Drones were also used to attack a Saudi oil pipeline last month.

Saudi Arabia has been at war with the rebel Houthis in Yemen for more than four years. The Houthis say the attacks targeting the kingdom are a response to relentless Saudi airstrikes on Yemen that have killed thousands.

Before his departure to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo said talks will include discussion on “how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states, but in Asia and in Europe… to push back against the world’s largest state sponsor of terror,” referring to Iran.

But even as Pompeo delivered his tough talk, he echoed Trump in saying the U.S. is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions.

“They know precisely how to find us,” Pompeo said.

Throughout the recent crisis, Trump has wavered between bellicose language and actions toward Iran and a more accommodating tone, including an offer for negotiations. Iran has said it is not interested in a dialogue with Trump.

Trump initially said Iran had made a “very big mistake” and that it was “hard to believe” that shooting down the drone last Thursday was not intentional. But he also said over the weekend that he appreciated Iran’s decision to not shoot down a manned U.S. spy plane carrying 30 people.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has blamed the United States’ “interventionist military presence” for fanning the flames.

U.S. military cyber forces on Thursday launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems, according to U.S. officials. The cyberattacks disabled Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Sunday the U.S. “conducted a cyber operation contrary to international law.” </s> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks Monday with the Saudi king and crown prince after days of mounting tensions following the downing of a U.S drone last week and after President Donald Trump pulled back from the brink of retaliatory military strikes on Iran.

Iran’s naval commander, meanwhile, warned that Iranian forces wouldn’t hesitate to act again and shoot down more U.S. surveillance drones that violate Iranian airspace.

The U.S. denies the drone, valued at more than $100, million violated Iranian airspace. Trump said he backed away from planned strikes after learning that 150 people would be killed but that military action remained an option.

WATCH: Possibility of war with the U.S. leaves Iranians ‘rattled’

On Monday, Pompeo held separate talks with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Saudi port city of Jiddah to discuss the escalation with Iran.

Pompeo wrote on Twitter that he had a “productive meeting” with King Salman and discussed “heightened tensions in the region and the need to promote maritime security” in the Strait of Hormuz near the Persian Gulf, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

From the kingdom, Pompeo will travel to neighboring United Arab Emirates, another close U.S. ally. The regional stops, made on his way to India, may be aimed at reassuring Washington’s Sunni Gulf Arab allies that the White House remains committed to maintaining pressure on Shiite Iran following Trump’s last-minute about face, which likely raised questions about U.S. willingness to use force against the Islamic Republic.

In what it says are defensive moves, the U.S. has built up its military presence around the Persian Gulf in recent weeks.

Iran’s naval commander, Rear Adm. Hossein Khanzadi issued a warning to Washington that Tehran is capable of shooting down other American spy drones that violate Iranian airspace. Khanzadi spoke Monday during a meeting with a group of defense officials in Iran.

“We confidently say that the crushing response can always be repeated, and the enemy knows it,” Khanzadi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Tensions have been escalating since Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from a global nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran. A fresh round of U.S. sanctions is to be announced later on Monday in a bid to force the Iranian leadership into talks.

Iran has decried the U.S. sanctions, which essentially bar Iran from selling its oil internationally, as “economic terrorism.”

Before boarding his flight to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo described the sanctions as a way to deny Iran “the resources to foment terror, to build out their nuclear weapon system, to build out their missile program.”

The hastily arranged Saudi visit by Pompeo, considered a hard-liner in the Trump administration, and the upcoming stop in the UAE come as both countries have expressed alarm over Iran’s military reach.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have accused Iran of being behind attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf over the past several weeks, while the UAE has been urging diplomacy to avert a wider conflict.

On the eve of Pompeo’s visit to the kingdom, Yemen’s Iranian-allied rebels attacked a Saudi airport near the Saudi-Yemen border, killing a Syrian resident and wounding 21 other civilians, the Saudi military said.

The Houthi rebels claimed they used bomb-laden drones in the attack on the Abha airport, the second in less than two weeks. Drones were also used to attack a Saudi oil pipeline last month.

Saudi Arabia has been at war with the rebel Houthis in Yemen for more than four years. The Houthis say the attacks targeting the kingdom are a response to relentless Saudi airstrikes on Yemen that have killed thousands.

Before his departure to Saudi Arabia, Pompeo said talks will include discussion on “how we can build out a global coalition, a coalition not only throughout the Gulf states, but in Asia and in Europe… to push back against the world’s largest state sponsor of terror,” referring to Iran.

But even as Pompeo delivered his tough talk, he echoed Trump in saying the U.S. is prepared to negotiate with Iran, without preconditions, in a bid to ease tensions.

“They know precisely how to find us,” Pompeo said.

Throughout the recent crisis, Trump has wavered between bellicose language and actions toward Iran and a more accommodating tone, including an offer for negotiations. Iran has said it is not interested in a dialogue with Trump.

Trump initially said Iran had made a “very big mistake” and that it was “hard to believe” that shooting down the drone last Thursday was not intentional. But he also said over the weekend that he appreciated Iran’s decision to not shoot down a manned U.S. spy plane carrying 30 people.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has blamed the United States’ “interventionist military presence” for fanning the flames.

U.S. military cyber forces on Thursday launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems, according to U.S. officials. The cyberattacks disabled Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps computer systems that controlled its rocket and missile launchers, the officials said.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said Sunday the U.S. “conducted a cyber operation contrary to international law.”

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, Darlene Superville in Washington, Aron Heller in Jerusalem, and Matthew Lee in Manama, Bahrain, contributed to this report.
U.S. President Donald Trump, when asked about the strike, says it is "hard to believe it was intentional". He later approves retaliatory military attacks against Iranian missile and radar facilities, but subsequently changes his mind.