US-led coalition against Iran 'will fail': Tehran

A U.S.-led coalition against Iran will not succeed, an Iranian spokesman said on Monday.

"Even if Washington comes to the [Middle East] region every day, it will fail," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a news briefing.

He said the "contradictory" statements by Washington "reflect how chaotic U.S. administration is".

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was leaving for the Middle East to meet allies in the region to form a "global coalition" against Iran.

Pompeo's visit comes only days after the U.S. and Iran came to the brink of war last week after Tehran shot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said he called off a retaliatory strike against Iran in the last minute because it wouldn't be a "proportionate" response.

Tensions have been rising between the U.S. and Iran since May 2018 when Washington unilaterally withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.

The U.S. has since embarked upon a diplomatic and economic campaign to ramp up pressure on Iran to force it to renegotiate the agreement.

Part of its campaign has included the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on exports of Iranian crude oil, which has sent the Iranian economy into a nosedive.