MojNews- Russia is concerned by the US threats to Iran amid tensions in the Persian Gulf and is calling on both sides to exercise restraint, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday.

According to the diplomat, the United States is interpreting its right to self-defence in its own way by threatening Iran with attacks in the Persian Gulf.

President Trump announced that he "instructed" the US Navy to "shoot down and destroy" any Iranian vessels that (as he claims)harass American warships. The development follows complaints by the Navy that some Iranian vessels were in dangerously close proximity to American warships in the Persian Gulf.

The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ( IRGC), Hossein Salami warned the US against engaging in hostile actions against Iranian vessels, threatening a "crushing response".