Fears of war between the United States and Iran have intensified after a US drone was shot down by Iranian forces.
Washington and Tehran disputed the circumstances of the drone shootdown, with Iran saying the unmanned spy plane was downed after it encroached on Iranian airspace, but the US said the aircraft was hit over international territory.
The incident marked the first direct Iranian-claimed attack on US assets and came amid heightened tensions, unleashed by US President Donald Trump's decision last year to withdraw from an international accord that curbed Tehran's nuclear programme.
It was also the latest in an escalating series of incidents in the Gulf since mid-May, including suspected attacks on six tankers, and has prompted international concern alarm that the standoff could escalate into an open confrontation.
Wednesday, June 26:
Iran's Khamenei: Nation will not retreat in face of US sanctions and "insults"
Iran's supreme leader says Iranians will not budge or change their stance following the new US sanctions targeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his associates.
The top Iranian cleric's website on Wednesday quoted Khamenei as calling the Trump administration "the most sinister" US government.
Khamenei is also quoted as saying that "the most hated figures of such an administration accuse and insult the Iranian nation. Iranian nation will not budge and will not withdraw because of the insults".
"The most vicious officials of the (US) government accuse Iran and insult it. The Iranian nation will not give in and retreat in the face of such insults," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website.
Iran's president says America is pursuing 'incorrect path'
America is pursuing an incorrect path, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, according to the IRIB news agency.
"Today I tell the Americans that the path you have chosen is an incorrect path," Rouhani said.
European signatories have not done enough to preserve the landmark 2015 nuclear deal and it would be in the benefit of European countries and the US to stick to their promises under the deal, Rouhani said.
Iran will speed up enriching of uranium after deadline to Europe ends
Iran will speed up enrichment of uranium after a deadline given to European countries to prevent this ends on Thursday, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said, according to the IRIB news agency.
"The deadline of the Atomic Energy Organization for passing the production of enriched uranium from the 300 kilogram border will end tomorrow," the organization's spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said.
"With the end of this deadline, the speed of enrichment will speed up."
Iran 'never seeks war' with US, says Rouhani
President Hassan Rouhani said Iran "never seeks war" with the US, state media reported amid a spike in tensions between the two countries.
"Iran has no interest to increase tension in the region and it never seeks war with any country, including (the) US," the president said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.
Rouhani was speaking by phone to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, as Tehran and Washington engaged in an escalating war of words following Iran shooting down a US drone last week.
"We have always been committed to regional peace and stability and will make efforts in this respect," the Iranian president told Macron.
US would not 'dare violate Iranian soil'
The United States would not dare violate Iranian soil, the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division said on Wednesday, according to the Mehr news agency.
"Neither America nor any other country would dare violate Iranian soil," Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Tensions have spiked between Iran and the US after the Islamic Republic shot down a US drone they claim was flying over their territorial waters last Thursday. Washington says the drone was in international airspace.
