Iran has strongly condemned the execution in Bahrain of two Shia Muslim men convicted of terrorism, saying the Gulf state's crackdown on dissent was bound to fail, reported AFP.

An American website said that the USS Boxer pulled into Bahrain's Khalifa bin Salman Port on Thursday for a visit, days after the amphibious assault ship made headlines for downing at least one Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday he was willing to go to Iran for talks amid tensions between Tehran and Washington, but also called on Japan, Britain and other nations to join a maritime force to guard oil tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain has started sending a warship to accompany all British-flagged vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a change in policy announced on Thursday after the government previously said it did not have resources to do so.

No Iranian drone has been brought down, the ISNA news agency quoted Iran's Defense Minister Amir Hatami on Wednesday as saying, after the U.S. military said it taken action against two Iranian drones in the past week.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday quoted the military adviser to Iran's supreme leader as saying that any change in the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran says it protects, would open the door to a dangerous confrontation.

Iran will secure the Strait of Hormuz and not allow any disturbance in shipping in the key oil transport waterway, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Tuesday during a visit to Paris, the state new agency IRNA reported.

The Swedish-based operator of the British-flagged tanker seized last week by Iran said on Tuesday it was still awaiting permission to visit the ship's 23 crew members.

Jared Kushner, son-in-law and senior advisor to President Donald Trump, will return to the Middle East later this month to discuss the Trump administration's forthcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, a senior US official told The Times of Israel.

It is true that Jamal Al-Baloushi, brother of Hisham Al-Baloushi, confirmed that Hisham had a “good relationship with security agencies in Bahrain”. His testimony aired on state television; however, does not reveal the nature of his relationship with the Bahraini intelligence and probably the intelligence of neighboring countries.

Gibraltar was granted the power on Friday to detain Iran's Grace 1 oil tanker for another month, keeping the vessel at the center of a big-power quarrel between Iran and the United States and its allies.

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 in the Gulf that have impacted global oil markets.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday they had detained a "foreign tanker" and its 12 crew for allegedly smuggling fuel, the latest incident in a tense standoff in the Gulf.

Iran is determined to "leave all doors open" to save its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, Iranian state TV quoted President Hassan Rouhani as saying in a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.

The Pentagon said on Thursday that the USS Boxer took defensive action against a drone after it came within a "threatening range" in the Strait of Hormuz.

US special envoy to Iran Brian Hawke said that 65 countries will discuss Bahrain's Gulf maritime security, without setting a date to the meeting or revealing identities of participating countries.

Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa arrived in Washington, where he met officials, particularly his US counterpart Mike Pompeo, US National Security Advisor John Bolton and prominent supporters to wage war against Iran.

The increased use of drones by Iran and its allies for surveillance and attacks across the Middle East is raising alarms in Washington.

Britain is sending its HMS Kent warship to the Gulf to protect its interests and ensure freedom of navigation after tensions with Iran, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Wednesday, after earlier saying that the mission was routine.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that tight U.S. travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York are "basically inhuman."