Trump approves strikes on Iran, but pulled back

US officials say, President Donald Trump had approved retaliatory military strikes against Iran before changing his mind on Thursday.

Senior white house officials, say strikes were already being planned against a handful of targets before Mr Trump stood the US military down.

This comes after Iran shot down a US spy drone.

Tehran says the unmanned US aircraft entered Iranian airspace early on Thursday morning.

The US maintains it was shot down in international airspace.

Tensions have been escalating between the two countries, with the US recently blaming Iran for attacks on oil tankers operating in the region.

Iran has announced it will soon exceed international agreed limits on its nuclear programme.