Yemen's Houthi movement launched an attack on Abha civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Sunday that killed one person and wounded 21 others, the Saudi-led coalition battling the group in Yemen said.

Some of the world's leading carriers including British Airways, Qantas and Singapore Airlines on Friday suspended flights over the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran-US tensions flare over the downing of a drone.

The United States envoy on Iran, Brian Hook, said on Friday it was "important we do everything" to de-escalate tensions with Iran.

A bomb blast killed seven people at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in eastern Baghdad on Friday and wounded more than 20, police sources said.

Iran refrained from shooting down a U.S. plane with 35 people on board that was accompanying the downed drone in the Gulf, a Revolutionary Guards commander said on Friday.

An adviser to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Friday if U.S. President Donald Trump does not want war with Tehran, he should ease sanctions, as tensions rise between the countries following the downing of a U.S. drone by Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke on Friday to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about Middle East stability and the oil market, the White House said, after tensions with Iran prompted a rise in oil prices.

U.S. House of Representatives' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday she was glad that President Donald Trump called off planned military strikes on Iranian targets, saying the collateral damage would have been "very provocative."

President Donald Trump said on Friday he is not looking for war with Iran, but he warned that if a conflict did occur it would result in "obliteration."

A Yemeni rebel strike targeted a desalination plant in the southwestern Saudi province of Jizan, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said Thursday.

The Pentagon on Thursday released an image it said showed the flight path for the drone that was shot down by Iran, but did not immediately provide a detailed explanation of the image.

U.S. House of Representatives' Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called for the United States to de-escalate tensions with Iran, after top lawmakers attended a White House briefing on the downing of an American drone by Tehran.

Iran's foreign minister said on Twitter that a U.S. military drone that was shot down by Tehran on Thursday had taken off from the United Arab Emirates.

U.S. President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Friday against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned $130-million surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching the attacks, the New York Times said.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order on Thursday prohibiting U.S. operators from flying in Iran-controlled airspace over the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman due to heightened tensions.

Moments before Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered last October, two of his suspected murderers waiting at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate fretted about the task at hand, according to a U.N. report published on Wednesday.

U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook will travel to the Middle East on Wednesday for meetings in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss "Iran's regional aggression," the State Department said.

French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic adviser traveled to Iran on Wednesday to hold talks with local officials as part of European efforts to reduce tensions in the Gulf region, a presidency official said.

Kuwait and Iraq called for wisdom and reason in dealing with the latest developments in the Gulf region in order to avoid tension and any clashes, Kuwait's news agency (KUNA) said on Wednesday.

The latest deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, which was announced on Monday, will include a Patriot missile battalion, manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft and "other deterrence capabilities," the Pentagon said on Wednesday.