Top officials from the European Union are calling on the United States to use "maximum restraint" and avoid military escalation with Iran.
"[U.S. Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo heard very clearly from us — not only from myself but also from the other ministers of EU member states — that we are living in a crucial, delicate moment where the most relevant attitude to take — the most responsible attitude to take — is and we believe should be that of maximum restraint and avoiding any escalation of the military side," Federica Mogherini, the European Union's foreign policy chief, said Monday in Brussels.
Mogherini, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he canceled a stop in Moscow.
The chief U.S. diplomat shared intelligence and details about Iran's recent "escalating threat" with European allies, blaming Tehran for failing to choose talks over threats.
"The secretary wanted to share some detail behind what we have been saying publicly. We believe that Iran should try talks instead of threats. They have chosen poorly by focusing on threats," State Department Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said Monday in Brussels.
UAE claim
Pompeo also discussed while in Brussels reported attacks on several oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, said Hook, who declined to comment when asked if the U.S. believes Iran is behind those attacks.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said Sunday that four commercial vessels were sabotaged near Fujairah emirate. Monday, Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were among those attacked and described it as an attempt to undermine the security of crude supplies amid tensions between the United States and Iran.
"We discussed what seemed to be attacks on commercial vessels that were anchored off of Fujairah," Hook said. "We have been requested by the UAE to provide assistance in the investigation, which we are very glad to do."
Britain, France and Germany also voiced new support on Monday for the international pact to curb Iran's nuclear weapons program.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called for "a period of calm."
"We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident with an escalation that is unintended on either side but ends with some kind of conflict," Hunt said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Berlin "still regards this nuclear agreement as the basis for Iran not having any nuclear weapons in the future and we regard this as existential for our security." He said Germany is "concerned about the development and the tensions in the region, that we do not want there to be a military escalation."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the U.S. move to ramp up sanctions against Iran to curb its international oil trade "does not suit us."
Iran nuclear deal
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned last week that Tehran could resume uranium enrichment at a higher grade if the European powers, China and Russia did not develop a plan to thwart punitive U.S. sanctions on Iran's banking and energy sectors.
The U.S., which withdrew from the 2015 international deal to curtail Iran's nuclear ambitions, has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bombers to the Middle East region, in response to concerns Iran may be planning an attack against American targets. The Pentagon announced Friday its intent to move additional firepower into the Middle East, including the USS Arlington and a Patriot missile battery.
The U.S. and Iran continue to trade warnings.
Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said at the White House that Iran would be making a big mistake if it tries anything against the U.S.
Tehran issued an explicit threat over the weekend, saying the U.S.'s increased military presence in the Gulf is now a target for Iran.
"An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now ... the threats have switched to opportunities," said Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard's air force. "If [the Americans] make a move, we will hit them in the head."
Pompeo is heading to Sochi on Tuesday for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Pompeo's trip comes a few weeks ahead of a Group of 20 summit meeting in Osaka, Japan, with both Trump and Putin expected to attend.
Trump said Monday that he will meet with Putin on the sidelines of G-20 summit.
