The U.S.-led naval coalition in the Gulf, established in response to a series of attacks on oil tankers, opened a command center in Bahrain on Thursday, the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement.

Iranian forces shot down a foreign drone over the port city of Mahshahr in its southern Khuzestan province on Friday, state news agency IRNA reported, quoting an Iranian official.

Kuwait�s deputy foreign minister Khaled al-Jarallah said on Tuesday that Kuwait conveyed messages from Iran to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain regarding the situation in the Gulf region, and �until now no answers have emerged�.

Iran said Saturday it has sent Iraq and Arab states of the Gulf the text of its security and cooperation project first unveiled by President Hassan Rouhani at the UN in September.

Iran�s President Hassan Rouhani said an Iranian tanker damaged in the Red Sea on Friday had been hit by at least two rockets, and there is video footage of the incident.

A Saudi minister said on Sunday that Riyadh was not behind a suspected strike against an Iranian-owned oil tanker in the Red Sea, which Iranian state-run television said was hit on Friday by missiles but denied reports they came from Saudi Arabia.

The United States officially launched its joint maritime security initiative in the Gulf, with the support of Australia, the United Kingdom and Bahrain, as tensions with Iran continue to escalate.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday the United States must observe the 2015 nuclear deal and stop engaging in "economic terrorism" against the Iranian people if Washington wants to meet for talks.

Iran has deployed a naval destroyer with long-range cruise missile systems to the Gulf of Aden to provide security for Iranian ships travelling through the region, state-run Press TV reported on Monday.

Iran has produced highly accurate missiles which it has not publicized, Iranian Deputy Defence Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh said on Friday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Sweden has received "very strong indications" that a British oil tanker seized last month by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz is to be released soon, Swedish public service broadcaster SVT reported on Thursday, citing sources within Sweden's foreign ministry.

Australia has joined Britain and Bahrain in signing onto a U.S.-led maritime security mission to protect international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions with Iran, the prime minister said Wednesday.

If Iran's oil exports are cut to zero, international waterways will not have the same security as before, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday at a meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Khamenei's official website.

An Iranian tanker at the center of an angry confrontation between Iran and Washington sailed for Greece on Monday after it was freed from detention off Gibraltar, as Washington called the release unfortunate and warned Greece and Mediterranean ports against helping the vessel.

King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa confirmed "the Kingdom of Bahrain's participation in the joint effort to preserve the safety of international maritime navigation and secure international corridors for trade and energy in the region."

A U.S. court has issued a warrant for the seizure of an Iranian tanker that British Royal Marines had seized last month in Gibraltar, a court document showed on Friday.

Gibraltar's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favour of releasing an Iranian supertanker seized on suspicion of shipping oil to war-torn Syria in breach of international sanctions, in a blow to the United States which had tried to block the vessel's departure.

The British territory of Gibraltar will on Thursday release an Iranian oil tanker seized by Royal Marines in the Mediterranean in July, the Sun newspaper reported, citing sources close to Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday Iran and other Gulf states could protect the region's security and foreign forces were not needed, state TV reported, repeating a longstanding rejection of a U.S. maritime security mission in the region.

A highly placed Gibraltarian government source denied on Tuesday an Iranian news agency report which said the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 would be leaving the British overseas territory on Tuesday.