US President Donald Trump said at a White House ceremony that the United States was confident that the Iranian plane would be shot down yesterday. "Washington is ready to respond to any other Iranian provocation,

A senior administration official said yesterday that the United States would destroy any Iranian aircraft flying in the vicinity of its ships and confirmed that Washington had rejected an offer from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif to negotiate because it did not see any seriousness in any offer to negotiate with Zarif, While Tehran denied that the United States dropped one of its aircraft, saying that all its aircraft are sound, and sarcastically suggested that Washington accidentally hit a US aircraft.

"If a plane flies too close to our ships, we will continue to drop it," the senior administration official told reporters in a statement.

He added that Washington rejected an offer from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif to negotiate and that America does not see any seriousness in any offer to negotiate with Zarif because it lacks authority and has no decision-making powers. He stressed that any message from Iran should come directly from the Iranian leader, Ali Khamenei, or President Hassan Rowhani.

The US official said in response to the Guardian newspaper that Iran had proposed to ratify a document containing more detailed inspections of its nuclear program if the United States gave up its economic sanctions, a move that Washington doubted its usefulness.

The newspaper quoted Zarif as saying to reporters in New York that Tehran could immediately ratify the "Additional Protocol" which gives UN inspectors more ways to verify the peacefulness of its nuclear program if Washington also gives up sanctions.

According to the paper, Zarif said: "If (US President Donald Trump) wants more for more. We can ratify the Additional Protocol, and it can lift the sanctions it imposed. "

For her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that she is concerned about the situation in the region, adding that all opportunities for diplomatic communication should be seized to avoid escalation with Iran.

"Of course I am worried," Merkel told a press conference in Berlin. You can not look at that area without worrying at this moment. " "All diplomatic opportunities should be seized to avoid any escalation," she said.

On the other hand, Tehran denied yesterday that the United States dropped one of its marching aircraft, after US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that a US warship shot down an Iranian aircraft that threatened the ship upon entering the strait, which Iran strongly denied.

The Iranian armed forces rejected Trump's remarks as "baseless and false allegations" while admitting that one of its aircraft was flying near the American ship.

"All of the planes running for Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, including the plane that the US president talked about, have returned safely to their bases," said Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Abu Fadl Shukarji.

"There was no report indicating a confrontation with the USS Boxer," he said.

He said in a statement on his website that the pictures had been broadcast to al Qaeda "before and even after the Americans claimed" that the plane was destroyed.

The ship was "in international waters" when a marlin approached it, the Pentagon said. "The ship carried out defensive action against the aircraft to ensure the safety of the ship and its crew," Trump said.

However, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghji denied this, saying Iran had not lost any aircraft.

"We are afraid that the USS Boxer accidentally dropped one of their American planes," he wrote in a tweet on Twitter yesterday.

This comes after Tehran dropped a US reconnaissance plane in June, which it said violated its airspace, which the United States denied.

Washington announced yesterday that it had imposed sanctions on a leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah group suspected of orchestrating the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Jewish synagogue in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and offered $ 7 million in compensation to those who gave him information.

"We are targeting Salman Rauf Salman, who orchestrated a devastating attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, against the largest Jewish center in South America 25 years ago," said Sgt Mandelker, deputy assistant secretary of state for counterterrorism.

"This administration will continue to target Hezbollah terrorists who organize horrific murderous operations and indiscriminately kill innocent civilians on behalf of this violent group under Iranian auspices," he said.

According to the Treasury Department, Salman, who is likely to have both Colombian and Lebanese nationality, continues to lead operations on the American continent in favor of Hezbollah.

"The United States will continue to work with the Argentine government and our friends in the region and the world to prevent Hezbollah elements from committing new attacks that serve Iran's harmful aims," ​​Mandelker said.

For its part, Argentina yesterday froze Hezbollah's assets 25 years later on the worst attack in the country's history, killing 85 people and injuring 300 others.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a number of regional officials attended Buenos Aires to commemorate the attack and discuss counter-terrorism.

"Hizbullah's terrorist militia continues to pose a threat to international and regional security and we must intensify efforts to address it," Pompeo said yesterday.

He added that Washington had placed the leader of Hezbollah Salman Rauf Salman on the "list of sanctions," stressing that Washington plays an important role in the fight against terrorism.

The US Secretary of State pointed out that al-Qaeda and the "lobbying" of terrorists continue to carry out their terrorist activities in Western countries, adding that Hezbollah's terrorist militia is seeking to strengthen its influence in the West through drug trafficking and money laundering.

Pompeo praised Argentina's decision to classify the Hezbollah militia as a terrorist organization, stressing that the move would limit its influence in the West.

The US State Department said it had offered $ 7 million to anyone who could locate Salman, also known as Salman Reza. A US State Department official said his administration encouraged Latin American countries to follow the American model of groups and individuals on black lists of terrorism.

Argentina and Israel assert that Iran ordered the attack and that Hezbollah operatives carried out the attack, such as the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, which killed 29 people and wounded 200.

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a network of individuals and companies alleged to be involved in procurement for Iran's nuclear program.

Treasury Secretary Stephen Menuchin said a network of seven entities and five individuals based in Iran, China and Belgium was aimed at helping Iran "acquire important nuclear material and serve the malignant ambitions of the regime."

The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of companies and individuals for involvement in purchases in favor of Iran's nuclear program.