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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/22/foreign-office-minister-visit-iran-urgent-de-escalation
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| Foreign Office minister to visit Iran to call for 'urgent de-escalation' | Foreign Office minister to visit Iran to call for 'urgent de-escalation' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A Foreign Office minister is to visit Iran on Sunday and call for “urgent de-escalation in the region”, amid heightening tensions between Tehran and Washington after an unmanned American drone was shot down. | A Foreign Office minister is to visit Iran on Sunday and call for “urgent de-escalation in the region”, amid heightening tensions between Tehran and Washington after an unmanned American drone was shot down. |
| Andrew Murrison, the MP for South West Wiltshire who covers the Middle East as part of his brief, will raise UK and international concerns about Iran’s “regional conduct and its threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal to which the UK remains fully committed” during “frank and constructive” talks with the government in Tehran. | Andrew Murrison, the MP for South West Wiltshire who covers the Middle East as part of his brief, will raise UK and international concerns about Iran’s “regional conduct and its threat to cease complying with the nuclear deal to which the UK remains fully committed” during “frank and constructive” talks with the government in Tehran. |
| “At this time of increased regional tensions and at a crucial period for the future of the nuclear deal, this visit is an opportunity for further open, frank and constructive engagement with the government of Iran,” the Foreign Office said. | |
| Trump says he stopped airstrike on Iran because 150 would have died | Trump says he stopped airstrike on Iran because 150 would have died |
| Iran claimed the downed aircraft was “spying” in its airspace and had crossed a “red line”. However, Washington said the incident had occurred in international airspace. | Iran claimed the downed aircraft was “spying” in its airspace and had crossed a “red line”. However, Washington said the incident had occurred in international airspace. |
| UK relations with Iran have been dominated by the ongoing imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian national who has always denied the spying allegations upon which she has been held in Iran since 2016. | |
| Speaking about Murrison’s planned visit to Iran, her husband Richard Ratcliffe said: “I’ve been asked how hopeful I am. I’m not sure if I’m hopeful, but certainly will be watching very closely to see how things develop and what comes back.” | |
| Ratcliffe is on day eight of a hunger strike outside the Iranian embassy in London in solidarity with Zaghari-Ratcliffe. “[Murrison will] be talking to the foreign ministry; we’ll be looking to see what reaction comes from inside the prison to those conversations,” Ratcliffe said. | |
| “The sooner the British government’s able to work with the Iranian government and find a resolution, that’s better for our family, for sure.” | |
| However, US-Iran relations have overshadowed her ongoing confinement, and while both countries have said they do not have any appetite for conflict Donald Trump told NBC on Friday that if it comes, Iran would experience “obliteration like you’ve never seen before ... but I’m not looking to do that”. | |
| Trump said the US was “cocked and loaded” to retaliate against Iran, but that he had cancelled planned strikes just minutes before they were to be carried out on Thursday after being told 150 people could die. | |
| Iran has vowed to defend its borders. “Regardless of any decision [US officials] make… we will not allow any of Iran’s borders to be violated,” the foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi, told Tasnim, a semi-official news agency. “Iran will firmly confront any aggression or threat by America.” | |
| Tensions between the US and Iran have soared, with Washington dispatching warships to the Gulf, and Tehran threatening to resume higher uranium enrichment. | Tensions between the US and Iran have soared, with Washington dispatching warships to the Gulf, and Tehran threatening to resume higher uranium enrichment. |
| John Bolton announces the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force in response to 'a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings'. | John Bolton announces the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force in response to 'a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings'. |
| Iran vows to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its nuclear deal. The US responds by imposing sanctions on Iran's metals industry. | Iran vows to enrich its uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels if world powers fail to negotiate new terms for its nuclear deal. The US responds by imposing sanctions on Iran's metals industry. |
| The EU urges Iran to respect the nuclear deal and says it plans to continue trading with the country despite US sanctions. | The EU urges Iran to respect the nuclear deal and says it plans to continue trading with the country despite US sanctions. |
| The US says it will move a Patriot missile battery into the Middle East to counter threats from Iran. | The US says it will move a Patriot missile battery into the Middle East to counter threats from Iran. |
| The UAE says four commercial ships off its eastern coast 'were subjected to sabotage operations'. | The UAE says four commercial ships off its eastern coast 'were subjected to sabotage operations'. |
| Yemen's Houthi rebels launch a drone attack on Saudi Arabia, striking a major oil pipeline and taking it out of service. | Yemen's Houthi rebels launch a drone attack on Saudi Arabia, striking a major oil pipeline and taking it out of service. |
| Saudi Arabia blames Iran for the drone attack on its pipeline. | Saudi Arabia blames Iran for the drone attack on its pipeline. |
| A rocket lands near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, without harming anyone. It's not clear who is behind the attack, but after the initial reports, Donald Trump tweets: 'If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!' | A rocket lands near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, without harming anyone. It's not clear who is behind the attack, but after the initial reports, Donald Trump tweets: 'If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!' |
| Semi-official media in Iran report it has quadrupled production of the low-enriched uranium used for civilian applications. Iran is allowed to enrich uranium, but increased production could lead it to exceed the stockpile limits in the nuclear deal. | Semi-official media in Iran report it has quadrupled production of the low-enriched uranium used for civilian applications. Iran is allowed to enrich uranium, but increased production could lead it to exceed the stockpile limits in the nuclear deal. |
| Senior Pentagon officer Vice-admiral Michael Gilday says the US has a high degree of confidence that Iran's Revolutionary Guards were responsible for the explosions on the four tankers in the Gulf of Oman. | Senior Pentagon officer Vice-admiral Michael Gilday says the US has a high degree of confidence that Iran's Revolutionary Guards were responsible for the explosions on the four tankers in the Gulf of Oman. |
| Saudi Arabia's King Salman hosts high-level summits in Mecca. He calls on the international community to use all means to confront Iran and accuses them of being behind 'terrorist operations' that targeted Saudi oil interests. | Saudi Arabia's King Salman hosts high-level summits in Mecca. He calls on the international community to use all means to confront Iran and accuses them of being behind 'terrorist operations' that targeted Saudi oil interests. |
| Saudi Arabia says 26 people were wounded in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on an airport in the kingdom's south-western town of Abha. | Saudi Arabia says 26 people were wounded in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on an airport in the kingdom's south-western town of Abha. |
| Two oil tankers near the strategic strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked in an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as 44 sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the US navy assisted. | Two oil tankers near the strategic strait of Hormuz were reportedly attacked in an assault that left one ablaze and adrift as 44 sailors were evacuated from both vessels and the US navy assisted. |
| Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have shot down what they called a US 'spy' drone they claim was flying in in the country’s airspace. The US military confirm one of its drones has been taken down, but say it was in international airspace. | Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have shot down what they called a US 'spy' drone they claim was flying in in the country’s airspace. The US military confirm one of its drones has been taken down, but say it was in international airspace. |
| Last year, the US unilaterally pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six other powers and reimposed sanctions on the country. International sanctions had been lifted under the pact in return for Tehran curbing its nuclear programme. | |
| A senior Arab diplomat said sharply increased tensions would further harm the crisis-hit Middle East region. | |
| “De-escalation is very important because tempers are flaring… It’s very important we avoid confrontation right now,” they told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. “Confrontation, whatever we think about Trump or Iran, will be disastrous for everyone.” | “De-escalation is very important because tempers are flaring… It’s very important we avoid confrontation right now,” they told Reuters, on condition of anonymity. “Confrontation, whatever we think about Trump or Iran, will be disastrous for everyone.” |
| On Saturday, Etihad Airways followed Qantas, British Airways, Lufthansa and a number of other airlines and suspended “until further notice” operations through Iranian airspace over the Straits of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. | |
| The United Arab Emirates-based carrier said “the safety of our passengers and staff is the highest priority” and that it would use alternative flight paths on a number of routes to and from Abu Dhabi. | |
| The US has warned that commercial airliners could be mistakenly attacked after the US Navy Global Hawk drone was shot down on Thursday. | |
| Tehran dismissed the concerns, which come 30 years after the US Navy accidentally shot down an Iranian civilian flight flying in Iranian airspace, killing almost 300 people. | |
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| Middle East and North Africa | Middle East and North Africa |
| Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| Drones (military) | Drones (military) |
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