United Nations members urged the U.S. and Iran Wednesday to step back from the brink of war and prevent an escalation of tensions.

"Let us not sleepwalk into a military confrontation," Francois Delattre, the French ambassador to the world body, said in a Security Council debate Wednesday.

The session was infused with concern over threats of war exchanged between Washington and Tehran after Iran shot down a U.S. drone and tankers were attacked near the Persian Gulf. But the official topic of the session was the deteriorating state of the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, which Security Council members blamed President Donald Trump for renouncing last year.