Moscow, June 22 (RHC)-- Russia says the United States is deliberately stoking dangerous tensions around Iran and pushing the situation to the brink of war.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has called on Washington to weigh the possible consequences of a conflict with Iran, the RIA news agency reported.

The Russian diplomat touched on a report in the New York Times, saying it showed the situation was extremely dangerous. The U.S. paper reported on Friday that President Donald Trump had approved military strikes against Iran for downing an intruding American spy aircraft, but pulled back from launching them on Thursday night.

Trump initially issued a series of cataclysmic threats, insisting that the RQ-4 Global Hawk was flying over international waters when it was taken down by an Iranian missile.

However, the GPS coordinates released by Iran put the drone eight miles off the country's coast, inside the 12 nautical miles from the shore, which is Iran's territorial waters.