BREAKING NEWS

Pompeo says Iran needs to 'come to the table' for talks

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday that the United States needed Iran to "come to the table" for negotiations, amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Pompeo, speaking at a counter-terrorism summit in Buenos Aires, also repeated an offer from President Donald Trump for talks without preconditions.

U.S.-Iran tensions have risen since Trump last year abandoned a nuclear deal under which Tehran agreed to curtail its nuclear program in return for the lifting of global sanctions crippling its economy.

Iran on Friday denied a claim by Trump that the U.S. Navy had destroyed one of its drones in the Strait of Hormuz, the latest episode to rattle nerves amid rising concern both sides could blunder into a war in the Gulf.

Pompeo reaffirmed in Buenos Aires that the drone "went down."