Washington should stop extreme pressure on Iran

The cloud of war over the Strait of Hormuz continues to darken as tensions between Washington and Teheran escalate, after US President Donald Trump admitted that he called off strikes against Iran at the last minute on Friday.

The strikes were initially authorized after the Iranian air defense system shot down a US RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aircraft on Thursday. The incident came just a few days after two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, which the United States blamed on Iran.

Washington and Teheran have given different accounts of both incidents, with the US criticizing Iran for masterminding the tanker attacks and shooting down the US drone over international waters.