Iran needs to meet diplomacy with diplomacy, not military force: US

The US said on Friday that Iran has no right to respond to diplomacy "with military force", a day after Tehran shot down a US reconnaissance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

"Our diplomacy does not give Iran the right to respond with military force," Brian Hook, the US special representative on Iran, told reporters in Saudi Arabia.

"Iran needs to meet diplomacy with diplomacy, not military force."

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Meanwhile, Iran said it had "indisputable" evidence a US drone it downed had violated its airspace, as reports emerged in the US that President Donald Trump had approved then scrapped retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets.

The downing of the drone -which Washington insists was above international waters but Iran says was within its airspace -has seen tensions between the two countries spike further after a series of attacks on tankers the US has blamed on Tehran.

Under pressure to respond to the high-stakes incident near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Trump issued orders for retaliatory strikes on a limited number of Iranian targets, the New York Times reported.

The US was planning to hit "a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries" Thursday evening, the newspaper said, citing senior administration officials.

"The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off," one official said. "Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down."

White House and Pentagon officials declined to comment, the Times said, and it was unclear whether Trump had decided to delay retaliatory strikes or cancel them altogether.

The US president had struck a combative tone in his public comments before rowing back.

"Iran made a very big mistake!" he tweeted in response to news Iran had shot down the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.

"This country will not stand for it, that I can tell you," he said later at the White House.