Tensions between Iran and the US have been rising, with President Donald Trump saying that he halted a planned strike on Iran at the last minute after he was told that it would kill 150 people.
On top of that, the Iranian regime has now reportedly executed a former minister of defence employee who it alleges was spying for the US.
Trump has said he does not want a war, but he warned Iran it would face obliteration if conflict broke out.
So what has caused these tensions between Washington and Tehran, and how has the situation escalated so quickly?
Whats going on with Iran, Trump, and the US?
The problems between the two countries have escalated sharply following the attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneni said following the incident that while Tehran doesnt want an atomic bomb, America could not do anything to stop Iran if it did.
However no one officially claimed responsibility for the incident, even with the Pentagon providing proof that Iran attacked the oil tankers.
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The Iranian foreign minister said the attack was suspicious, owing to the fact that it happened during a meeting between Irans supreme leader and Japans prime minister, who had traveled to Tehran as an interlocutor for Trump to ease tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Indeed, the problems between Iran and the US predate this incident, with tensions rising after Trump pulled out of a deal in 2018 – which President Obama organised in 2015 – that saw sanctions on Irans hardline Islamic government lifted in return for assurances that they would not pursue a nuclear weapons program.
Iran has since hinted that it may return to developing weapons of mass destruction, and the nation has long promised to target Israel if it ever successfully develops a nuclear missile.
Then on Thursday morning, an American drone was shot out of the air by Iran, with General Hossein Salami also saying that the country does not have any intention for war with any country, but we are ready for war.
Irans Revolutionary Guard claimed that the drone was over their airspace, but US officials have maintained that the drone was flying in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.
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