U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives to meet with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street in London, Britain May 8, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has postponed his visit to Greenland because he needs to return to Washington, the State Department said on Thursday.

“Secretary Pompeo must postpone his visit to Greenland due to a need for the secretary to be in Washington, D.C., today,” spokeswoman Mortgan Ortagus said.

Pompeo had been due to visit Greenland on Thursday, but left London bound for Washington instead.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on Iran, targeting revenue from its exports of industrial metals, the latest salvo in tensions between Washington and Tehran over a 2015 international accord curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Pompeo told Britain on Wednesday it needed to change its attitude towards China and telecoms company Huawei, casting the world’s second largest economy as a threat to the West similar to that once posed by the Soviet Union.