U.S. diplomats warn of risks to commercial aircraft in the tense Persian Gulf.

Diplomats say aircraft face dangers from Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Commercial airliners flying over the Persian Gulf risk being targeted by “miscalculation or misidentification” from the Iranian military amid tensions between the Islamic Republic and the U.S., American diplomats warned Saturday.

The warning relayed by U.S. diplomatic posts from the Federal Aviation Administration, though dismissed by Iran, underscored the risks the tensions pose to a region critical to both global air travel and trade. Oil tankers have faced sabotage, and Yemeni rebel drones attacked a Saudi oil pipeline over the past week.

Meanwhile on Saturday, Iraqi officials said ExxonMobil Corp. began evacuating staff from Basra, and the island nation of Bahrain ordered its citizens out of Iraq and Iran over “the recent escalations and threats.”

But U.S. officials have yet to explain publicly the threats they perceive coming from Iran, some two weeks after the White House ordered an aircraft carrier and B-52s bombers into the region. The U.S. also has ordered nonessential staff out of its diplomatic posts in Iraq.

President Donald Trump since has sought to soften his tone on Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also stressed Saturday that Iran is “not seeking war,” comments seemingly contradicted by the head of the Revolutionary Guard, who declared an “intelligence war” between the nations.

Last year Trump decided to withdraw the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and impose sanctions. Iran just announced it would start backing away from terms of the deal, setting a 60-day deadline for Europe to come up with new terms.

If new terms are not reached, Iran said, it would start enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels. Tehran has insisted it does not seek nuclear weapons, but the West fears its program could allow it to build atomic bombs.

The order relayed Saturday by U.S. diplomats in Kuwait and the UAE came from an FAA Notice to Airmen published late Thursday in the U.S. It said that all commercial aircraft flying over the waters of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman needed to be aware of Iran’s fighter jets and weaponry.

U.S. Navy The Associated Press Lt. Nicholas Miller, from Spring, Texas, and Lt. Sean Ryan, from Gautier, Miss., launch an F/A-18 Super Hornet on Thursday from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea.