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

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. 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."

The Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said that a former general in the Israeli army will represent Israel in the upcoming economic workshop in Bahrain which will discuss the economic aspect of "deal of the century".

Following mediation by Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, Bahrain announced that it would allow six Israeli media outlets to cover the US-led "Bahrain Workshop" scheduled for next week.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said Thursday his Palestinian movement rejected next week's US-sponsored Middle East economic conference in Bahrain as it would amount to Arab "normalisation" of ties with Israel.

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.

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.

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.

Iran has shot down a U.S. drone which the elite Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday was flying over southern Iran, raising fears that a major military confrontation could erupt between Tehran and Washington.

The U.S. Senate will vote on Thursday on legislation seeking to block President Donald Trump's plan to complete $8 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, lawmakers said, making clear they want a harder line against what they see as human rights abuses by the two countries.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised on Tuesday a U.S.-led conference on the Palestinian economy in Bahrain, and a source said a former Israeli general would be among the participants.

A rocket landed near an Iraqi military base hosting U.S. forces in the northern city of Mosul late on Tuesday, an Iraqi military statement said, the second such incident in two days.