Iran signals it wants to calm crisis with US

President Rouhani at a press briefing with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Photo: AP

Iran has signalled it favours a wants to reduce tensions with the US, following a series of incidents over the past 10 days, during which both sides fired missiles and Tehran accidentally shot down a passenger aircraft.



Security was stepped up in Iran's capital after a vigil the previous night for those killed in the air disaster turned into an angry protest and police briefly arrested the British ambassador for being there.



US President Donald Trump warned Iran against harming demonstrators and against a repeat of a deadly crackdown against rallies in November sparked by a fuel price hike.



"To the leaders of Iran - DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS," Trump tweeted in his occasional all-capitals style.



US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, however, said Trump was still willing to "sit down and discuss without precondition a new way forward", although Tehran has steadfastly refused to hold talks with Washington unless it lifts sanctions first.



Tehran said it favoured de-escalation following 10 days of increasingly hostile tensions sparked by a US drone strike that killed a revered Iranian general, Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad on January 3.



In a meeting between Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and the visiting emir of Qatar, both sides agreed de-escalation is the only solution to the regional crisis, the emirate's ruler said.



Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the region but also enjoys strong ties with Iran, with which it shares the world's largest gas field.



For his part, Rouhani said: "Given the importance of security of the region... we've decided to have more consultations and co-operation for the security of the entire region."



Also on Sunday, Hossein Salami, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, said the missiles it fired last Wednesday on Iraqi bases hosting US troops were not aimed at killing American personnel.



"Our aim was not really to kill enemy soldiers. That was not important," he told parliament. (AFP)