US President Donald Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching attacks, US media reports said on Friday.
Citing senior White House officials, The New York Times reported an operation sanctioned by Trump to launch attacks on a "handful of Iranian targets" - including radar and missile batteries - was "in its early stages" on Thursday evening when the US leader changed tack and called it off.
Planes were in the air and ships were in position when the order to stand down came, the Times cited one unidentified administration official as saying.
The Washington Post and ABC News also reported the developments, citing unnamed White House officials and other sources said to be familiar with the matter.
The White House denied to comment on the reports
The shootdown marked the first direct Iranian-claimed attack on US assets and came amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran, unleashed by Trump's decision last year to withdraw from an international accord that curbed Tehran's nuclear programme.
Since then, the US has deployed more military assets to the Gulf, as well as thousands of more troops.
'Catastrophic clash'
The reports came just hours after Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it shot down an unmanned US aircraft after it flew into Iranian airspace.
The drone that was struck by a surface-to-air missile was in international territory at the time it was brought down, US officials later said. Trump accused Iran of making a "very big mistake", but also suggested the move may have been unintentional.
On Friday, Iran's foreign ministry said Tehran had "indisputable" evidence that the aircraft violated its airspace.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner, whose country represents US interests in Iran, of the evidence on Thursday night, the ministry said in a statement.
"Even some parts of the drone's wreckage has been retrieved from Iran's territorial waters," Araghchi told Leitner.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gave the exact coordinates where he said the drone was shot down, adding Iran has retrieved sections of the unmanned aerial vehicle from its territorial waters.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, sent a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday denouncing the incident as a "blatant violation of international law".
"While the Islamic Republic of Iran does not seek war, it reserves its inherent right ... to take all appropriate necessary measures against any hostile act violating its territory, and is determined to vigorously defend its land, sea and air," Ravanchi said.
The United States is trying to create "Iran phobia", Iran's Defence Minister Amir Hatami said on Friday.
"Very complicated and suspicious conditions exist in the region," Hatami was quoted as saying by the Iranian Labour News Agency. "It seems that all of this is in line with an overall policy for creating Iran phobia and creating a consensus against the Islamic Republic."
On Thursday, Trump told reporters "Iran made a big mistake" and his "country will not stand for it". When asked if he would respond militarily, Trump said, "You'll soon find out."