Pompeo Says he'd Go to Iran if Needed

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he would "happily" go to Tehran to address tensions between the two countries over US sanctions on Iran.

"I would welcome the chance to speak directly to the Iranian people... about what it is their leadership has done and how it has harmed Iran," he said.

The US has said it brought down one and possibly two Iranian drones last week, and has blamed Iran for a series of mysterious attacks on tanker ships in strategic Gulf waters.

Tehran shot down an unmanned US aircraft in June, after which Trump announced that he had called off retaliatory air strikes at the last minute because the resulting death toll would have been too high.

Iran's top diplomat renewed accusations during a visit to the United Nations last week that the US was using the sanctions to wage "economic terrorism."

Iranians are "subjected to the most brutal form of 'economic terrorism' -- deliberately targeting innocent civilians to achieve illegitimate political objectives," said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
"We want change in behavior from the Iranian leadership so that the Iranian people can ultimately get what it is they deserve,” he added.