Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it was impossible for Turkey to stop buying oil and natural gas from Iran, despite the threat of U.S. sanctions, and added that trade between the two countries would continue, according to broadcaster NTV.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday he was open to discuss small changes, additions or amendments to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers if the United States lifted sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he believed that the conditions for the leaders of the United States and Iran to meet were now in place, but the ball was now in their court to make it happen.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday as he seeks to defuse tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Iran will hold its annual military parade on Sept. 22 in the Gulf with 200 frigates and speedboats, the semi-official Iran Front Page website reported on Wednesday, at a time of soaring tension between Tehran and Washington.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa discussed Tuesday issues of mutual security concern, the Pentagon said amid heightened tensions in the region concerning Iran.

Oil prices tumbled more than 2% on Wednesday after a report that U.S. President Donald Trump weighed easing sanctions on Iran, which could boost global crude supply at a time of lingering worries about global energy demand.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Friday that it appeared Iran was inching toward a place where talks could be held, days after U.S. President Donald Trump left the door open to a possible meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Iran said on Friday it had taken a step to further scale back its commitments to a 2015 nuclear deal, Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

A senior US official personally offered several million dollars to the Indian captain of an Iranian oil tanker suspected of heading to Syria, the State Department confirmed Wednesday.

Iran on Wednesday said it would take another step away from a 2015 nuclear deal by starting to develop centrifuges to speed up its uranium enrichment but it also gave European powers two more months to try to save the multilateral pact.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday left the door open to a possible meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the upcoming U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday Tehran would further cut its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal unless European states acted to salvage the pact by Thursday, but that this did not mean the "end of talks", Iranian news agencies reported.

France has proposed offering Iran about $15 billion in credit lines until year-end if Tehran comes fully back into compliance with its 2015 nuclear deal, a move that hinges on Washington not blocking it, Western and Iranian sources said.

Iran said on Monday it would further reduce its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal if European parties failed to shield Tehran's economy from sanctions reimposed by the United States after Washington quit the accord last year.

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.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have looked inseparable on the world stage, working together to project power in the Middle East and beyond, and courting U.S. President Donald Trump to counter common foe Iran.

Iran would need three days to lift its oil production back to the level it was at before U.S. sanctions were imposed, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying on Tuesday.

Iran will not talk to the United States until all sanctions imposed on Tehran are lifted, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump said he would meet his Iranian counterpart to try to end a nuclear standoff.