Envoy says U.S. not wanting war

PARIS -- The United States does not want a full-blown war with Iran, although it still is seeking to build up international defenses in the region just in case of a conflict, President Donald Trump's special envoy to the country said Thursday.

The big question is whether other countries are ready to join with Washington. So far, Europe is favoring diplomacy instead.

Iran is poised to surpass a key uranium stockpile threshold, threatening an accord it reached in 2015 with world powers aimed at curbing its nuclear activity. Tehran made no immediate announcement Thursday it had done so, perhaps waiting to hear what Europe can offer at a meeting today to keep the deal alive.

French President Emmanuel Macron is trying to dial back tensions, saying he hopes to convince Trump to open talks with Iran and avoid a war potentially engulfing the Middle East. The two men are to meet today at a Group of 20 summit in Japan.

"There is no brief war," Macron warned. "We know when it's starting, but not when it's finishing."

Brian Hook, special representative for Iran, met with top European diplomats Thursday in Paris, and he said he wants to get tougher on Iran, instead of clinging to the nuclear deal the U.S. pulled out of last year.

"We are not looking for any conflict in the region," he said. But if the U.S. is attacked, "we will respond with military force."

To that end, the U.S. is trying to drum up support for an international naval force in the Persian Gulf, notably to protect shipping.

"The president would like to see an international response of like-minded countries who could come together and contribute assets that could be used to enhance maritime security in the region," Hook said.

But acting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, at his first NATO meeting this week, left Brussels with no firm commitments after discussing the idea with U.S. allies.

Tensions have been rising in the Middle East after the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran to cripple its economy. Citing unspecified Iranian threats, the U.S. has sent an aircraft carrier to the region and deployed additional troops alongside the tens of thousands already there.

The U.S. has been worried about international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since tankers were damaged in May and June in what Washington has blamed on limpet mines from Iran, although Tehran denies any involvement. Last week, Iran shot down a U.S. Navy surveillance drone, saying it violated its territory; Washington said it was in international airspace.

Iran recently quadrupled its production of low-enriched uranium as it slowly steps away from the nuclear deal. Even though Trump pulled the U.S. out of it, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China are still part of the pact.

Iran previously said it would surpass a 300-kilogram stockpile limit set by the accord by Thursday. An Iranian official in Vienna said the country was 2.8 kilograms below the limit Wednesday, and there will be no new assessment until "after the weekend."

Even if it surpasses the limit, "we are not breaching the deal," said the official.

The official insisted Iran wants to "save the deal" and urged Europeans to start buying Iranian oil or give Iran a credit line to keep the accord alive.

At the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran's ambassador to the U.N., told reporters if the country exceeded the limit, it could be quickly reversed as soon as Tehran sees recovery in its oil and banking sectors, he said, adding he hopes "tangible results can be achieved" in Vienna "so that we can reverse our decision."

Hook wouldn't comment on whether Iran had surpassed the limit, but he estimated Iran is still at least a year away from building a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons.

"That is the standard of the Iran nuclear deal, that Iran should never be able to get to a nuclear weapon in less than a year. This is relevant because Iran still is they still hold the title of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism," he said.